Track Listing
1. Rise and shine 2. 1845 3. Holy man 4. It's just a ride 5. Food for the brain 6. Fish out of water 7. Roof of the world 8. 16 Stone pig 9. 216 dog years 10. If I can change 11. A spoonful of sugar 12. On deaf ears 13. A day in the light of 14. Words Year: 2000 Label: V2 Records - Official Site |
One Minute Silence - 'Buy now...Saved later' - By M. Freeman
Britain isn't best known for breeding successful rap metal bands, but it has to be said, these guys do it better than most of the other pretenders to the throne. Many people maybe put off by the political anitcs that seem to tide over wherever OMS walk, but the music is still something which deserves to be taken notice of. Opener 'Rise And Shine' is different to how most bands would introduce their most recent accomplishment, but it has some style. This release isn't really picking up where previous album 'Available In All Colours' left off, but that is not necessarily a downfall, the vocals are more polished and clean sweeping, the guitaring is also clearer throughout and the record is possibly more accessible to fans of other genres. '1845' is a pit favourite by OMS, with the slightly distorted vocal inauguration and swirling guitars it begins relatively calmly, but then lifts off into a typical rap metal blast riff. '1845' is an angst ridden track, which, placed after the more relaxed offering of the intro shows the wider capabilities of the band. Politics may be a large part of the London four-piece's music, but this track has a slice of religion in it too, entitled 'Holy Man', this is one of the more catchy tracks of the album. The anger shines through come the last minute when vocalist Yap screams out 'Oh Jesus Christ' several times leading to the tracks finale with yet more catchy guitar work from Chris Igantiou. Glenn Diani's bass begins proceedings on 'It's Just A Ride' after a snippet of samples take effect. I'm not sure if this track belongs here or not, it's a good track but it seems to take a different direction, and that is perhaps the downfall of the album, too many switches in direction. That aside, there's a catchy chorus and the trademark rap metal influences to keep the listener interested. Now this is what the album needed, a fast paced, both musically and vocally, track named 'Food For The Brain'. This track could well draw comparisons to the earlier Rage Against The Machine material, which is fitting in the sense that they are also a politically orientated rap metal outfit. This was the first track I heard from the record pre-release and was the reason I forked out the near �15 for the CD. 'Food For The Brain' could go alongside 'Stuck Between A Rock And A White Face' from the previous album as two up-tempo catchy pieces. Next up is my personal favourite offering from the album, 'Fish Out Of Water' lasts just over four minutes and is one of the best to sing along to, the vocals aren't all that fast for the most-part, but the vocals are cleanly put across with moments of melody that the guitar work and excellent drumming help to stand ever present throughout the track. 'Roof Of The World' keeps to the same rules as track four from the album, not a track which has too many faults, although it does seem to bring the tone down a little from the previous two tracks and is likely to disappoint slightly. Despite this the angst provoked vocals from Yap return to the picture towards the finish and the track ends on a high., '16 Stone Pig' is a breather from the action in a sense, with an almost constant foghorn like sample to begin with and Yap almost speaking as if to tell a story with the lyrics 'They say he struggled, they say he fell, I say he found himself, black in a pig cell'. The track picks up pace to great effect at around the mid-point where the thrashy vocals return along with speeded up riffs and perfectly timed drumming from Eddie Stratton. Track nine has guitar work which could have appeared earlier on in the album, but with the different vocal arrangement the guitars are highlighted quite effectively. Some well worked parts appear on '210 Dog Years', noteably towards the end as the track spirals to a close, but not what I would call a choice cut from the album by any means. 'If I Can Change' follows a similar pattern, a slow-ish start that it has to be said, has some fairly boring vocal arrangements that makes it seem a little as though ideas were wearing thin. The lyrics may well have some meaning, but they're too repetitive, and it is only by the second half of the track by which 'If I Can Change' is saved. A more positive finale to the track than what may well be first thought from a relatively dull beginning. The eleventh track, 'A Spoonful Of Sugar' has an out-standing riff once it picks up pace, which doesn't take too long as the listener will have noticed is not always the case with some of the tracks here. The vocal duties of Yap return to the distortion-like direction for the verses while it has a full-on rap chorus. Possibly relying too much on a powerful chorus is where the track fails, but still stands up well and holds a significant enough place on the album. 'On Deaf Ears' is a track which fails each time to pull me in, there's not a lot to it, the guitaring is a little simple and again, it is reliant on the chorus to keep the track worthy of a place on the album. This is one of the pieces on the disc that show the different direction that is undertaken throughout and although each new area is done well and the lyrical content on such tracks is often promising, they could have been better. 'A Day In The Light Of' is how the tracks should be, catchy bass lines that are great on the ears and a chorus that blasts through the skull when played loud enough in the way which pieces such as '1845' and 'Food For The Brain' previously had done to good effect. Final track 'Words' is slow, to begin with at least, but is an excellent addition all the same. Morals, political of course, flow through the track with the main focus being freedom. There is plenty on offer from this track, the vocals range from the clean melodic, back to the speedy rap chorus lines which appear throughout the disc and all is done well. It would be easy to pick a few minor glitches with the album, but it maybe unfair on it as it is an all-round well produced and great sounding release. A progression in many ways from 'Available In All Colours', it stands significantly well in the rap-metal genre. A couple of bogey tracks can be noticed and momentarily lose the listeners attention, but the good tracks really are good. Some scorching highlights from a promising British act. It will be interesting to see how the much anticipated third album shapes up... Metal Obsessive Grade: 85% |