OHHMS-Cold

The album cover is one that could easily cause stir and controversy, all of these symbols. But what do they mean? Is that a deer or perhaps a ram. A crescent moon the sun, these thing are present as well as other unidentifiable symbols but it all just looks slightly creepy with a sense of the unknown.

Track 1. The Anchor- A growing hum in the distance seemingly wraps around your ears, like an alien mother ship. Very distinct and creepy noises can be heard oscillating about, as if something whistles closer. A tiny whistle though subtle in the distance. A rough distorted yell chimes about. A dark echoing volume consumes the void. Quite annoying intro. The song finally begins, there's a very minimalistic feel here. There's also an annoying muffled quality about the track itself. Distorted parts enter the fray, but if memory serves me correctly this is the distinct style of play for this genre of music. The vocals are barely audible. The conveyance is however powerful. It's a slow and dynamic groove, everything thoroughly rings out like a tidal force which brings all life to its knees. The song continues to groove in it's slow hold me til I stop breathing pattern. I can't make out the guitar riffs very well, but the drumming is pretty impressive. Everything seems to be set back away from the mics or the mix. There is a definite passion within this music. Things actually speed up here, odd but interesting melodic gatherings chime into the track. The song takes on a bit of a more interesting feel about it. A slightly catchy syncopation, though it is still slow and drags, it is a slow, heavy, and hard hitting grind. The beat is more aggressive and forth right now, though they are like echoes sitting off and away from the track, you can still make out the lead guitar with it's epic riffs. Things begin to slow down again, becoming very minimalist in nature. It's almost like it started a whole new song with this different beat. The riffs you can make out a bit better in the mix. Vocals are a distance roar of inaudible noise, though powerful. The music is heavy, but it drags quite a bit, the music is basically alternating between long drawn out pieces and minimalist parts.Not exactly grooves more like raptures of repeating cadences that will not cease to exist. It's been a while since there were any vocals, the music at times is interesting and entertaining but also, at times tedious and boring. The lead melody here however is a bit of a re intro for the song to light back a fire. The rhythm guitar that you could actually make out a bit there, was actually cool. The only thing that I consistently like about this band would be the drumming. The riffs at times you can hear and others not so much. Things did pick up and get heavy and a bit interesting, but then the sound began to fade away into an overwhelming dust up of pure whistling noise, and burning hisses. The music echoes off into the long far distance, almost as if you the listener have walked away leaving everything behind, without second thought.

Track 2. Dawn of the Swarm- A dirty guitar that you can barely make out within the mix begins this piece. A muffled bass, and a distant clean guitar round out the track with a very minimalist drum beat, that happens to be well timed and consistent. The song slows to an absolute crawl, but a beautiful lead guitar melody echos in the backing track. The track begins to die for a moment, only to awaken into a cold darkness filled with a distorted pathway of destruction. Forth right and dangerous with a mission to deploy a slow oozing mayhem of plight. The drums at least pound out a strong eclectic beat at times. Vocals hail their way back into the mix. The song takes on a very weird groove, it's not really entertaining, just odd. Dark foreboding melodies suddenly reign nigh for a moment, a panic begins in the mix. The hard hitting drums are the only thing that are for sure here. The music becomes unquestionably consumed with long drawn out beats that speak of low drawn out feeling of a life cut short. The music again alternates from mediocre and drawn out, to halfway interesting. Again most of the music seems muffled and drawn back within the mix. This music in parts has been well somewhat entertaining, in other parts thoroughly annoying because of the sound quality.

You can barely hear the vocals at different points through the album. The groove sounds a bit boring at the moment, almost like the song is rambling. Things turn towards a darker appeal, but you really can't make much sense of the thick fuzzy riffs enough to enjoy them. It's a slow dull groove. This music in places, mostly is VERY watered down. I mean, WHY make two fifteen minute tracks? Why not just split the ideas of the songs up here, the material overall was very convoluted. Very few parts were interesting, or enjoyable. Most of the time the music was watered down and dragged, not to mention the muffled instrumental parts, as well as sound quality issues with the vocals. This music mostly feels like complete nonsense I'd say a bit less than mediocre. Rating 4/10

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