Rifftastic gets sent a lot of material that comes from all kinds of quality/styles/approaches and the variety! This is the best part about having a reviewing platform! When this dropped into my inbox i had no idea what to expect, Well all i can say is holy fuck.
This album is one of the most interesting,experimental,mental,brutal records i have heard this year.
If i had to pigeonhole this record i would say it was experimental/technical/prog/death/melo/grunge....thing.
The amount of styles implemented masterfully and crafted in a way that i genuinely think most people would love them purely on their creativity and variety alone.
As someone who is a huge music nerd and genuinely love everything that is music this album tickled all my pickles
The themes tackled in the record are very engaging and they craft intense scenes with the music and lyrics which creates another level to the madness making you further more erect.
I won't dissect every track because i would be here ALL DAY there's so much to say and i have very little time and space..
But il summarize my thoughts and feelings instead!
The journey starts with Scape with a room recorded piano and live atmosphere of a man playing piano who then abruptly stops and starts moving around a room and i assume he turns on the radio and inaudible sounds and voices start emanating through to the listener being barraged by weird and almost fighting voices gaining in intensity...
Creepy..
Repugnant is a aggressive track with interesting elements throwing pretty much everything except the kitchen sink at you! it's a great start to the album because it draws you in immediately throwing all they are at you trying to hook you with their very unique sound.
Arbiter Of Taste is techy Alice In Chains with djent...what a sentence, stunning musicianship throughout and captivating song ending on a Sega sounding synth, my brain at this poitn is confused but on fire with interest.
Glowjaw is a incredible song! switching to a acoustic with nature ambience and haunting vocals lulling you into a trance, This doesn't last long until we are thrown into heavier and heavier tones until the experimentation hits off and then The Odious "do their thing" objectively good and charming song.
Did Hastor The Shepard Gaunt need a 8bit drum intro? yes, yes it did and a 80s "WOO" YES IT DID.. this track was a delight but nothing too different from what we already heard!
Title track Vesica Piscis which according to google is a type of lens where two circles overlap maybe a comment about perception or things crossing over each other mayhap!? this one comes in hard! and has every element that we have heard so far! definitely feels like the title track, the Alice In Chains vibe was in force during this track! and having a heavy ass groovy riff bouncing its way through my ears! EPIC SHIT!
Heavy Rhetoric next and boy this tracks a ride.. the most SIKITH sounding song deffo "TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT YOU SAY" also i have never heard room atmosphere 'splegh' in a album before..
Now for..er..one sec *Googles* 物の哀れ....hmm wait... AH GOT IT translates to 'Mononoaware' meaning pathos of things, Love it when bands force me to google shit the more you know, ehem.
This song is beautiful, atmospheric and groovy, really showing their masterful songwriting ability by crafting a song that genuinely moved my feels so i guess its intention hit the mark.
Misuse And Malignant Changes tone with a accusational barrage making me feel i done something wrong BUT THEN lounge.....Obviously..then jazzy grooviness giving me heavy Trepallium vibe!
Ending this album is my favorite track on the album Fix this one moved me not just lyrics but the musicianship is fucking incredible and so versatile and then SUDDENLY it stops? Subtly you once again hear the man from the start in a room pick up a guitar and play the album out to a close with haunting voice and creepy room atmosphere while SHREDDING on a acoustic guitar closing the album.
Overview: Eclectic, Incredible musicianship and songwriting, i have little to say apart from i am stunned.
9.5/10 RIFFS
https://theodious.bandcamp.com/?fbclid=IwAR2KNbn6P_pgh1KiBzkSQZ0x-O5TW4nI0zkTYykEcTkjWHSEYksm4gS-CQ0
FFO: Sikith, Bossk, Tesseract, Moonloop, Trepallium, Tool, Alice In Chains, Mastodon, Gojira, MUSIC.