Ossilegium - The Gods Below
“A Band with Only Two Members Can Only Do So Much”
Written by Big Bear Buchko

The worst possible answer to the question “I wonder how they replicate this live” is…

“Oh… they can’t.”

And that is the realization I make only two tracks into the new Ossilegium’s release, The Gods Below. The sound of the album is rich and layered, with great mixing and excellent representations of the genre, but like the Whitest of Stripes before them, a band with only two members can only do so much. Here, with songs such as “Serpentine Shadows,” heavy instrumental rhythms continue behind dominant and aggressive guitar solos, and you know it either fails spectacularly live or that they utilize backing tracks to mimic the rich, full impact of the record – neither of which I am a fan of… despite how prevalent it all may be. Or perhaps they hire stand-in musicians to fill out the live performance. I could get behind that. But in terms of reviewing this album, I have to move forward imagining this as a studio effort, and not the collaborative effort of a living, breathing team.

But I don’t.

This article was going a different direction when I decided to look more into Ossilegium; I needed to know more about their two-piece arrangement. I was assuming drums with vocals and guitar, or maybe the front man pulling triple threat with vocals AND guitar AND bass along with the drums, but… what I wasn’t expecting to find was the duty roster of vocals and guitar…. AND guitar. Okay… so no bass. No drummer.          What? There’s very clearly drums on this record. So, I revisit one of the tracks at random – “The Winds of Astaroth” – and I notice how perfect those drums are. Clean, never of varying decibel or frequency… is… is this a drum machine? For a band – sorry, “band” – to declare an empty space for percussion, there’s only a few options they have left to get that whole big band sound, and all signs are pointing to computer programming and synthetic beat keepers.  “I wonder how they replicate this live?”

 “Oh… they can’t. Because this is two dudes jamming in a basement somewhere.”

This admittedly leaves a bad taste in my brain. It won’t affect my overall opinion of the record, but it definitely affects my overall opinion of the “band.” In terms of reviewing this album, I have to move forward imagining this as a carefully-presented product, not the collaborative effort of a bluh bu-bluh bu-bluh. But for real, this time. The fact here is that I’m disappointed. Ossilegium comes across like a force very much worthy of a live presence. This is who I’d want to see at Riot Fest, Wacken, Hellfest. This is who I’d want to experience on the road, opening for Dying Fetus, Born of Osiris, Sanguisuckmebogg. And you likely won’t. Which sucks a bit harder than usual because The Gods Below is a punishing and intricate ass-kick of deathy metal goodnesss.

The guitars... you know, all the members… are quite good. Especially on later-album tracks such as “To Reach the Eternal Ends,” where the solos seem both very deliberate and very well-crafted. I’m reminded of a comedy line from Katt Williams: “there is not an amateur bone in this n***a’s body” and it’s true – these are seasoned players. Another place this is evident is in the vocals. While there certainly isn’t a lot of variation in their presentation – no George Fisher highs or Dani Filth banshee wails – but they don’t waver in what they do. They’re monstrous in a proper, hard metal, cement mixer fashion that reminds me greatly of Nils Frykdahl – vocalist for Sleeptime Gorilla Museum and (one of my personal favorites) Idiot Flesh.

The Gods Below is honestly good. If I hadn’t undertaken the unusual task of reading about the project beforehand (I usually wait until after my first playthrough to go rummaging through the paperwork), I probably never would have known about their membership handicap judging by their sound. The entire record sits at only nine songs, but thanks to the inclusion of two short and unexpectedly acoustic instrumental tracks, it’s really more like seven. And, you know what, there’s not a bad one among them. A bit repetitive, sure, but the less demanding connoisseur of underground metal would likely find a solid and enjoyable record here, and it’s absolutely worth picking up.                        Just don’t expect to see them live anytime soon.