Sublimation(s)
Oria
From their Facebook page, "ORIA is a four-piece, Progressive Groove Metal band based in Thessaloniki, Greece that formed in 2018. They have a wide variety of musical influences both individually and collectively ranging from metal, rock, jazz and classical and frame a unique songwriting process and personality. Groove is a fundamental element in our sound while their philosophical perception mainly originates from the Progressive scene, resulting in a diverse and innovative musical soundscape with continuous movement which is driven by conceptual story-writing." "Sublimation(s)" is the band debut album, and contains ten tracks.
"Limitless Insanity" leads off the album. It opens with slow and steady drum strikes and some background ambiance. A distorted groove develops, with harsh vocals. "Template of Nothingness" opens with a slow cadence and some pig squeals in the guitars. The cadence of the harsh vocals has a right rhythmic feeling to it. It picks up in speed a bit from there. "Cope" is a shorter song that opens with some dissonance in the guitars. It pulses with a heavy rhythm and almost rap-like vocals.
"Flisvus" opens with some bass guitar notes, and with slow, depressing clean vocals. It moves to a harsher sound, but still with that slow moving cadence. Some vocal chants come into play and that kicks the sound up a notch or two. "The Weight of Uncertainty' comes with a price. Its pensive undertones echo the sentiment of the title. It's an instrumental that hears the despondent tone continue throughout. "The Demon Beside my Bed" is a nine-minute opus. It opens slowly at first, then a scream kicks up the sound a bit. It's heavy, aggressive and with audible bass notes. The rhythm of the vocals is probably what you notice most. That, and the despondent tones. It's an odd mix of elements, that's for sure.
"Regret the Fall" is much shorter, opening with audible bass notes and some distorted guitars. The vocals are semi-harsh at first, then go fully harsh, but they really don't make a connection with the music very well. "Fed to the Wrong" is a short, two-and-a-half-minute song with spacey guitar effects and a slow, grinding rhythm. "Blame Yourselves" is just under eight minutes in length. It opens with the heavy thudding of bass guitar, and light and airy vocals, leading to a full on attack. Some heavy dissonant tones come in around the five-minute mark, as the song begins to spiral downwards into darkness.
"Violated" is another lengthy song. Heavy, angry tones open this song, but the groove is still there. It takes a turn just after the two-minute mark with a different tone. The vocals and guitars run in unison for a spell. Here is where I am picking up on some Progressive elements, in the form of all of the changes the song goes through along the way. Overall, the album just failed to make much of an impression on me. I can play with the despondent undertones, but the rhythms were just overly used in my opinion. At times it hit the right groove, while other times it missed.
5 / 10
Mediocre
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Sublimation(s)" Track-listing:
1. Limitless Insanity
2. Template of Nothingness
3. Cope
4. Flisvus
5. The Weight of Uncertainty
6. The Demon Beside my Bed
7. Regret the Fall
8. Fed to the Wrong
9. Blame Yourselves
10. Violated
Oria Lineup:
Leo - Guitars/Vocals
Kwst - Guitars
Stef - Bass/Backing Vocals
Jo - Drums/Percussion
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