ALBUM REVIEW: cyc|er – Overrider

Instrumental albums are a tricky craft to get right, as the attention is all on the music, without vocals and lyrics to add any other layers to the music. This means that the music is all that’s on display for people to hear clearly. With OVERRIDER‘s mini-album, they’ve combined the math rock sound with intrinsic rhythms and a mixture of instruments and electric effects. So, how does the band do with their mini-album, cyc|er? 

Surprisingly well, as the genre fusion works well throughout the whole album. A lot of creative talent within the guitar parts and the electronic MIDI tracks to create a unique, ethereal experience that blends beautiful different sounds. [sky.ladder] is an atmospheric introduction to the album that is the perfect start for the music. agitated_| showcases a lot of skill from the band that examples the amazing production work within the music. The atmosphere of the music, like on the left hand, is ethereal and it’s an atmosphere that the listener can easily drift off to in a calm way, but also in a punchy jam way as well, for example, in anchored | p u n c h. 

The first single, ansible, garnered a lot of comparison to groups like MASSIVE ATTACK. But this group is more experimental with its music, as it combines the complex rhythms found in hip-hop, but also include the rock vibe from the melody and harmony from the guitars and the MIDI tracks, as well as those electronic sounds helping elevate the music instead of overshadowing it.

Songs like p ssibility_sw rd and quarter |ess are great examples of how the instrumentation works together to create something stunning to listen to instead of having the electronic sounds mask over the production. Only criticism is with the final track, wings over the wor|d, as until the guitar solo near the end of the track, the song feels very monotonous as if there were a lot of great ideas to display but not enough time to put it together. This also leaves the track in an awkward place at the end of the album, so it is not a brilliant closing track. 

Overall, there’s a lot of unique and interesting songs in this mini-album, and it’s an exciting look into the possibilities that OVERRIDER can do in terms of their sound and style, and what the progression of music can become as they fuse genres and create something new for music fans to listen to. It’s worth checking out and it will be exciting to see what the group do next.

Rating: 8/10

Cyc|er is out now via self-release.