Insidious Omen – To Cast the Last Shadow [EP] – 2.5/5
http://www.mediafire.com/?22nbzwzznyl
Without my beloved collection temporarily, I find myself in the mood for something raw in tone, seizing upon this opportunity to explore beyond what usually sits in my playlist, and whilst this may result in an impressively discovery, in the same manner it can result in something like this, a release that initially showed promise until the final ‘epic’ track, where someone forgot to point out that more than length is required to make such an endeavour work. Nonetheless, this is still an artist that perhaps shows promise.
What initially intrigued me was the careful balance between maintaining that raw tone, and allowing each instrument to become distinctly heard, it succeeds in allowing the three elements presented to be distinctly heard, and this becomes critical when we realise that there is a wealth of excellent ideas presented in such a short period of time. Everything about their work comes back to the idea of consistency through simplicity, performing a simple but addictive guitar riff over an ever changing drum beat, never spending too long on one style or abusing blast beats. The vocals, too, are not overused, lending a mid-ranged guttural scream, reeking of despair in a tortured tone, rather than symbolising strength it seems to take the approach of the helpless victim being sodomised by the icy black torment. Despite the number of interesting ideas, certain riffs went on too long, and whilst showing promise got tiring before their conclusion.
But this is all in reference to the first half of the EP, for it is the latter half, consisting of a single 17 minute track that has me questioning, just what were they thinking? Consisting of a single monotonous tremolo riff of a single note, changing about once a minute (briefly), the same drum beat over and over, and what appears to be an amateur zombie impersonation (again, all in monotone), if this is the level of quality they are attempting to use to attain a record deal then they haven’t got a chance. I maintain that there is some promise shown here, but as it stands they are firmly in the swarming masses of an overpopulated scene filled with mediocrity.
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