Released by: Inside Out Music
Release Date: Out Now!!!
Genre: French/Irish alternative rock-metal
Line Up:
Gary Kelly – Guitar/Vocals
Florian Soum – Lead Guitar
Sébastien de Saint-Angel – Bass
Camille Greneron – Drums
Tracklist:
1 Something Ominous
2 Set Alight
3 Billion Dollar Shakedown
4 Breakdown
5 Anyway
6 Daylight Dies In Darkness
7 Dead On Arrival
8 Pendulum
9 Reality Show
10 Vampires
This album may only be 38 minutes, but it’s 38 minutes of power, energy and leaves nothing hanging and everything headbanging. Let’s fact it, if you’re not headbanging – ok nodding is an acceptable movement if you’re at work – the whole time, you’re not listening to the album properly.
Starting off with the album’s title track, “Something Omnious” there’s nothing ominous about this album. It hits hard from the beginning, and keeps going. I like it so much so I listened to it on repeat for the majority of the morning when I was reviewing the album.
The first track comes in at what feels like a good 4:05. This track leaves no room for losing attention honestly. What a great way to start the album! I thought it was actually shorter, and was surprised to see how long it was, what a refreshing feeling.
“Set Alight” – In general reminds me of something Avatar might write. I imagine this track live is a fun one to watch. This track feels like room shaker, the breakdown with the solo and beat change really is fun, especially when it comes back to the normal beat of the song, and then the drums go into double time. Love it!
“Billion Dollar Shakedown” reminds me of Nonpoint to a degree – but honestly, this whole album feels like a mix of Nonpoint and Avatar, which shouldn’t be taken as an insult. Nonpoint was one of my favorite bands when I was a teen and 20 something, and their music has always been good to me. I really like the vocals in this track, they command attention, with the way the singer Gary Kelly inflects his voice during the chorus. The song starts off with a guitar riff that is certainly an earworm.
“Breakdown” starts out softer, an unexpected softness – but not for long about 20 seconds in the heavy hits. The bass line in this song really carries the song along. The subtle keys add a beautiful sonic layer that really gives the song a depth that I feel it might have otherwise. In fact there’s a lot of subtlety and layers to this track and overall it’s a complex track with beautiful playback that comes together and ends in your face.
“Anyway” – this song drives from the start. I like how the vocals are a little low-key until the chorus. And these drums – speaking of drums, I know a lot of my reviews talk about the drums, but this drummer is not afraid to fill space with something different that works really well, while also giving space where it’s needed. The solo in this track is awesome, soaring well above while complementing everything. What a track, seriously. Probably my favorite track on the album next to the title track.
“Daylight Dies in Darkness” – this is a nice reprieve from the heavy driving songs of the album. Sometimes when bands do this on the album it can be a real downer and just be slow for slow sake. But this song doesn’t seem to do that. It’s nice to hear the singer sing in a different way, and the instruments be a tad lighter while carrying a very nice tune all around, building up for a good three minutes when the full on sound comes into play. While noticeably slower than the rest of the album, it still kicks ass until the end.
“Dead on Arrival” – I cannot tell you how much I smiled when I heard the little cymbal hit at 31 seconds, that just made this intro that much better. I imagine everyone as they were writing and then recording play an air cymbal, but it’s perfectly fitting. Humorous and fitting, in all the best ways. Just as soon as you think it’s going to go back to a verse, they switch it up and do a key change, and tempo change, which is done without effort and back into the opening bass line. Then we go into a musical breakdown with a really cool staccato guitar part that flows into the driving end.
“Pendulum” – I really like the intro in this one, especially the reverse tape/delay effect. At 50 seconds we change everything up, and it feels totally natural. I just really like this song and the structure and sonic playing field they created, everything is done in such a way that you have clear defined sections, and can still follow along. This is my favorite track on the latter half of the album.
“Reality Show” – This song feels like a stadium anthem. It drives and has those synthy keys that remind me of the 80s rock and metal without it being cheesy synth. A very decent song that has an even better solo. The lyrical content is even better.
“Vampires” – The simple sounding intro is nice, and then everything hits. I like the effects of everything throughout the song, it feels like a vampire could be standing before you and could be ready to attack. The drums just hit differently in this song too. The music is spaced with room to think, but it works like you’d expect. This song is a perfect way to end the album. It pushes, drives the band home and makes you want to listen to the album again.
I would recommend this album to anyone I know looking for a good rock album. This is one of those albums that I was asked to review and from the moment I played it, I knew I was going to like it. I went out online to check out their live stuff to see if it’s the same live, and it is. So, if you happen to see this band on a bill, go out and see the show! It’s not every day you see a band that can take their album and make it better on the stage.
Written by: Chris Rugowski
Ratings: 10/10
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