ALBUM REVIEW: Myriad – Oh Hiroshima
Post-rock? Post-metal? Post-hardcore? It seems the general appetite for all things ‘post’, with the understandable exception of post-manpat, is at an impressive peak. Quite frankly, who could blame the general masses when the calibre of such music consistently flies at the upper echelons of our exciting little world of relentless creativity. In 2022 alone, bands like CULT OF LUNA, TOUNDRA, ROLO TOMASSI and NORDIC GIANTS have each shown their best hands for an impeccable first leg of the year. Yet, there is more to come. More polarised beauty, more astounding aural landscapes to unfurl – more genuinely gripping music. Our couriers of today’s ‘post’ are growing stalwarts OH HIROSHIMA – their highly anticipated fourth opus Myriad is another promising package. As one may expect, they deliver.
For those yet to immerse themselves within the band’s world, OH HIROSHIMA is a Swedish cinematic post-rock collective that has spent the best part of the 2010s ascending the genre’s ranks with a rich arsenal of awe-inspiring grandeur and an erratic see-saw between joy and despondency. It’s a formula that has seen them grow exponentially, both numerically and with regards to acclaim, even plucking the right strings to prick the ears of industry titans Napalm Records who backed their latest LP (2019’s Oscillations) with great success. OH HIROSHIMA has always operated as a trio, but 2021’s early months saw the departure of bassist Simon Forsberg, leaving Jakob Hemström and Oskar Nilsson to fly the flag between them. Justified worries arose to the band’s efficacy for a fourth home-run on Myriad with all eyes on the newfound duo.
While Forsberg was undoubtedly a large cog in the band’s procedure, their integrity and free-flowing songwriting remain as organic as ever in his absence. In fact, fervently pushing to free themselves of any self-doubt, the band has indeed produced their finest work to date. Much like OH HIROSHIMA’s established catalogue, Myriad is better perceived as a greater whole. Each of its seven tracks are wonderfully realised with a distinct pattern of rising and falling that ties the tracklist together into one near-seamless experience. These are, of course, instilled with their trademark propensity for cinematics. Colossal rumbles of kick drums and riffs that walk a tightrope between a soothing embrace and a remorseless kick to the temple – either way the entire project feels set on a gargantuan scale and permanently puppeteers with the listener’s emotions.
Myriad’s genius, however, is how the record draws attention to its own evolution across the tracklist through elements of tone and production. The opening moments of Nour are a distorted haze, thick with an angry swarm of guitar that cloud Myriad’s first impressions in confused anger. As each track unfurls and passes, the band introduce eye-widening instances of clarity, gradually adding orchestral elements that not only build on an already impressive scale but aid this progression of lucidity to clear the red mist and usher in solemn regret and melancholy. It’s an intelligent additive on OH HIROSHIMA’s proven formula that keeps things moving forward without losing the original spark that has since caught so many eyes.
If complaints are to be made they are few and far between. The largest folly, which is to overstate the matter truth be told, are Hemström’s vocals. He delivers a great performance, as is the case for the rest of the LP’s instrumental ensemble, but there are instances – particularly in early cuts like Nour and Veil Of Certainty – where the vocals become buried beneath the noise; there’s always that small desire for Hemström to truly let loose and give those goosebumps a run for their money. Plus, while the record boasts an overall linear progression from a bird’s eye view, individual tracks can sometimes be seen as lacking direction when missing the bigger picture; nothing, however, that repeated listens won’t fix, which the album practically demands regardless.
OH HIROSHIMA have overcome the loss of an integral cog and taken it in their stride with a tour de force of post-rock that inflates the band’s well-stocked sleeve of tricks to the potential that was always in their grasp. Myriad’s constant flirting with extremities is inspiring, so meticulously designed that its arbitrary nature feels almost natural and the album’s intelligently pieced production is yet another arrow to the quiver. 2022 was already looking like a year of great triumphs, OH HIROSHIMA arrive poised to hit the home run.
Rating: 8/10
Myriad is set for release on March 4th via Napalm Records.
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