ALBUM REVIEW: Sacred Time – Mt. Onsra
Following up a debut record which can accurately be described as a happy little accident, UK duo MT. ONSRA have returned with the exciting Sacred Time. After many years of inconsistent contact, it took the COVID-19 lockdown to finally get Simon Allen and Russell Cleave together (digitally), where they turned a time-passing hobby of composing music into their debut album Written In Silence. After this effort and the lockdown restrictions were eased, it was time to begin working on a sequel – this time together in the studio rather than apart in separate properties.
Opening track Emergent was one of the first tasters the twosome gave the world of the new release, and this was the first example of Allen and Cleave’s work post-lockdown. A softer rock number is gentler to the heart and the head but still heavy with feeling and focus. As an independent outfit, putting out music via their own South Of Devon Records, they prove that they still know what they’re doing and they know how to work together.
Being a fascinating system of Cleave’s instrumental placements working alongside Allen’s despairing vocals, MT. ONSRA have found what works for them and what makes this fact so much more unbelievable is they managed to pull this off during their days of collaboration via WhatsApp. Being physically together, it shows that their musical bond and cosmic chemistry was always meant to be; this is felt as the album plays on. Coming to tracks such as Integration, they have found their footing and with one foot in front of the other, together, they will never take one step out of place.
The Depths We Dive is a standout track. While Sacred Time has an overall soft-rock sound with snippets of grunge thrown in – a combination that makes it sound both gloomy yet graceful, dark but determined – this is the song that brings out this mixture in its purest form. Breaking the mould it takes shape in, this track has everything a rock fan desires: a teetering of harmonious riffs and gritty shreds on the guitar, digitally distorted vocals full of ambivalent emotions, and a tempo that moves at its own near predetermined pace. Compared with the act’s previously named influences of TOOL, JEFF BUCKLEY and RADIOHEAD, the blueprint is laid out clear as day and said influences can be heard and felt through the veins. It’s deep and dark, like the furthest corner of space or the lowest bed within the ocean. But it’s artistic, it’s meaningful, and reading between the lines, one can tell it’s all real lived experiences in one way or another.
As the record winds down with the chilling harmonies of the concluding Voices, there is no arguing with the pure talent between Allen and Cleave. From electronic pen-pals sending tunes back and forth, to putting together the pieces before one another in a professional setting, the evolution is both surprising and relieving. From the first steps made with Written In Silence, this was the best and most natural progression they could have made and released. This is not just a testament to MT. ONSRA, but also a testament to the unimaginable and inimitable power of music to get the world through the hardest and most hopeless times.
Rating: 8/10
Sacred Time is set for release on June 28th via South Of Devon Records.
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