With Beyond Omega, Oracle shows the world how producing a debut album should be done! The band was founded in 2016 in Mobile, Alabama and already this quartet brings forth a very mature portion of Melodic Death Metal with a touch of howling Black Metal guitars here and there. With two members having built up some experience in Curse The Flesh, maybe this shouldn’t be such a surprise.
Beyond Omega presents us with a diverse mélange of brutal and melodic elements. The execution is very technically controlled, balanced and precise, illustrating that these fellows know exactly what they are doing. It’s almost a mathematical piece of art! Pace and rhythm are continually changing, which keeps the album alive and kicking. Guitars are supported by background keyboards in melodic parts and drums and bass go perfectly together in the more brutal, minacious pieces. More importantly, the music stays credible at all times, it doesn’t feel artificial and there is a natural flow of different pieces brilliantly sewn together. Only flaw: some pieces or riffs are so damn good that we would like to hear them a little longer rather than the continuous flow of diversity. Lyrically, the songs are painting a picture rather than telling a story. Ominous scenes are set by the use of a quite metaphorical, symbolical and dark descriptive vocabulary.
Oracle proves to be a quite versatile band with a lot of technical capabilities and a broad spectrum of influences. Fast and technical guitarplay on On The Wings Of A Martyr reminds us of groovy Melodeath acts like Deals Death, Gojira and Sylosis. The sensitive piano on By the hand of Aestrea is worthy of comparison to Dark Tranquility. Symphonic choruses are a treat for fans of Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septic Flesh. And then we have the great extreme parts with hints of Noctem and Behemoth On Aeyons Of Madness, There Will Be Blood and others. Finally, more classical elements of Brutal Death Metal are present in the spirit of Aborted, Vader and sometimes even groovy riffs (on The Cleansing, for example) like the ones we all know and love from Kataklysm. And notwithstanding all these parallells or comparisons, Oracle still plays their very own genious blend of Extreme Metal. A job well done!
Release date: July, 2016
Label: independent
Tracklist:
1. Aeyons Of Madness
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Beyond Omega
4. Nocturnal Creatures
5. By The Hand Of Aestrea
6. On The Wings Of A Martyr
7. Beneath The Crimson Veil
8. Tomb Of Serpents
9. The Cleansing
10. Blood Stained Epitaph
