Futurity and Human Depressions (1991)
---7/2/06
Osiris were one of those metal bands from the late 1980’s and early 90’s to attempt what is known as Technical Metal, a highly complex form of heavy metal that was more or less invented by Watchtower in the mid 1980’s. I only picked up the CD originally as it was mentioned in the same breath with early Sieges Even circa Life Cycle and the aforementioned Watchtower in an old Metal Forces magazine review. All the trademarks of the style are here: Loud thrashy guitars, turn-on-a-dime rhythms, high pitched vocals, and nary a melody to be found. And it is this last trait that most affects the outcome of Osiris’s album. One web reviewer stated that it sounds like Osiris are playing complex music just to be complex. And I would say that’s about right. It’s also fairly one-dimensional. The guitar playing isn’t particularly crisp either, a somewhat sloppy run through. All the same, one has to admire the sheer audacity to try to muddle through these hyper-complex compositions – most between six and nine minutes. This is the kind of album that I can appreciate more on some days than others – and I suspect anyone into very complicated music will feel the same.
---4/19/20
The above review was for Gnosis about a generation ago, but my thoughts are more or less the same. Once again we're dealing with a very dense style of thrash (from teenagers no less), not that dissimilar to Deathrow's Deception Ignored that I just reviewed and also listened to recently. As time goes on, I seem to enjoy this kind of metal more than even prior. This resulted in a +1 listen.
Ownership: 1991 Shark (CD). Booklet with full lyrics and the requisite thank you section.
1996 (CD acquired); 7/15/06 (review); 4/19/20 (update / new entry)
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