The Omega Evangelion
Byron
BYRON hails from Pirkkala, Finland. The six piece band formed in 2019 and recorded their […]
By Emily Schneider
•
April 15, 2021
BYRON hails from Pirkkala, Finland. The six piece band formed in 2019 and recorded their debut "Omega Evangelion" throughout the pandemic of 2020. They describe their music as Lovecraftian Metal, which I can settle with since their actual 'genre' ranges massively. There are some songs on more of the Stoner Rock side, others that are pure Doom Metal, some Gothic elements, and everything in between!
The album begins with the reverb-heavy "Epilogue" that flows into "Through the Eye of the Nightingale". The overall feel is QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE style Stoner Rock with the groovy melodies and cool vibe of the vocals. "Amalthea" takes the tempo down a few notches and brings some chuggy Doom Metal riffs into the mix. I was a bit disoriented by the growled vocals after the first two songs had featured clean vocals from Johanna. The guitar solo in this song was great, I loved the mix of pure Heavy Metal with some fuzzy Stoner Doom together. "Corn, Drought and the Lord" gets a whole lot darker, lyrically. There's this feeling over the song like there's a gray veil draped over it, it really adds to the setting of the track.
"Oktober" does have a spooky autumnal feel with the 'leaves falling' flow of it all. There's some cool chilling keywork and the song takes on an almost Gothic feel about halfway through the track melodically. The vocals from Magus also reminded me a lot of 90s era THEATRE OF TRAGEDY. I really enjoyed the blend of Metal subgenres overall in this song! "Oasis of Tranquility" is a chill ballad, until the voice-over from The Cold War came in toward the end anyway. "Night's Watch" is the return of the Stoner Rock meets Doom combo and these guys really know how to create some fuzzy smoky soundscapes. "Over the Wall" closes the album with a rather epic instrumental. There's some rad melodic guitar work and some rolling percussion that keeps the song barreling along until it fades into a murky static.
Overall, "Omega Evangelion" was such an interesting debut album from BYRON! They managed to blend a handful of Rock and Metal subgenres together in every track, yet it never felt too jarring or out of place. Everything flowed quite nicely together and the production was well done too. I also enjoyed the vocals from Johanna; her voice was like a darker Karen O (YEAH YEAH YEAHS) then the contrast of the lower ranged male vocals from Magus plus the harsher vocals of Christoffer made it all the more intriguing. I also loved the melodies in every song, they created some cool smoky images in my mind as the songs went along. This first album from the band is a great one to sit back and just enjoy, I have a feeling the enjoyment levels will increase with more listens as well!
8 / 10
Excellent
Songwriting
8
Musicianship
8
Memorability
8
Production
9
"The Omega Evangelion" Track-listing:
1. Epilogue (Intro)
2. Through the Eye of the Nightingale
3. Amalthea
4. Corn, Drought and the Lord
5- Oktober
6. Oasis of Tranquillity
7. Night's Watch
8. Over the Wall
Byron Lineup:
Johanna Eteläkari - Vocals
Christoffer Frylmark - Vocals (growls)
Magus Corvus - Vocals (cleans)
Jaakko Puusaari - Guitars
Jyri Vahvanen - Guitars
Johannes Lahti - Guitars, Bass, Drums, Piano
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