Enter the dystopian world of ORIA with their powerful sophomore album, “This Future Wants Us Dead.” A relentless fusion of progressive groove metal, this concept-driven masterpiece weaves crushing riffs, intricate rhythms, and haunting melodies into a gripping narrative of humanity’s struggles with progress, destruction, and redemption. Through a cinematic blend of ferocity and atmosphere, ORIA confronts themes of environmental collapse, technological domination, and social isolation, challenging listeners to reflect on the fragile balance between innovation and annihilation. Yet, amidst the devastation, a glimmer of hope remains—a call to resist, rebuild, and reclaim the future.”

“Metamorphocene: The New from the Shell of the Old” is first. It has a cold sort of sterile sound, from thick, meaty bass notes, and some electronica. The vocals are semi-clean, and there is a robotic pattern at times. “Pirates, Parrots and Parasites has some bending grooves in the opening riff, and you can also feel the Progressive elements. The vocals vary from cleans to semi-harsh to even shouted at times and are delivered robotically. There isn’t a lot of feeling emanating from them. “Guided by the Hand of G.O.D.S.” is where some of that missing feeling comes into the music. It is catchy and groovy, in addition to being dark and aggressive. I can do without the rapped vocals, however…just a personal preference.

“Chthonic Uprising” is a little looser and the cleans in the chorus bring a measure of melody to the table. It is still pretty filthy however, especially in the harsh vocals. “From Wastelands to Vile Hands” has some nifty guitar pyro in the beginning, and it is followed by an energetic and contentious sound. So far, the album has a constant of being dark and aggressive. “The Islandead” has some Nu Metal sounds in it, and the band has presented a few different styles on the album so far. The chorus is quite catchy, even amidst the heavy, weighted landscape of the music. “Tantalia” has some outer-worldly elements and the clean vocals are once again delivered with a robotic cadence. The various effects it has are quite interesting and could be done more in my opinion.

The lengthy “Slow Down, Take a Breath and Bury the World that Was” closes the album, and it has an even keeled sound. Listen to the cleans in the chorus, they are quite melodic. Both the guitar and bass work are excellent as well. Overall, this was a solid album that displayed a high sense of musicianship and enough diverse elements to keep the listener engaged. There were a few missteps along the way however, but nothing to spend too much time on.