ALBUM REVIEW: The Law Of Augmenting Returns – The Omnific
What do you get when progressive metal does away with vocals? You might imagine POLYPHIA or LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT, but what happens when you focus the arrangements around purely bass and drums, with only a smattering of synths and a sprinkling of vocals? You get the genius of THE OMNIFIC of course. With their third record The Law Of Augmenting Returns, the trio set their sights on making the most barefaced, raucous music for their eager listeners.
Beginning with an absolutely delightful acapella intro to pure bass filth on The Omnific ≈ Bass sets up the tone of this record. What you’re getting here is top class prog instrumentalists with a charmingly silly side; THE OMNIFIC have definitely hit a stride by this third record, that’s for sure.
Symphonic and playful, there is an excellent start for The Law Of Augmenting Returns. As to be expected, this is a mostly instrumental record; the vocals are tastefully injected as accompaniments sparsely and only when they really add something that more bass wouldn’t. The title track plays with intense, djenty contemporary prog with groove and even nods to ragtime playfully thrown in before big symphonic dirges take over before a final gospel organ blues ending. If this all feels like a mad hodgepodge of ideas in one song, you’d be right, which also means you’re either going to be really open to the daft elements, or find it all too tonally irregular. Whichever camp you fall in, this is super tight and so well played with excellent production.
Nods to modern bands such as POLYPHIA, ANIMALS AS LEADERS and MONUMENTS are obvious to any newcomers to THE OMNIFIC, who also take inspiration from legends like DREAM THEATER for the more avant-garde, orchestral ideas on Matrices. There’s a dynamic fluidly within the textures of this tune that really stand out, hard time changes and aching grooves that punch and shove you around.
Base Camp has elements of deep melody that fans of bands like VOLA will really enjoy without being especially derivative. It’s bass-driven, but with harmony and graceful lead lines from the synths and light string arrangements. The play between every instrument feels like a chorus of voices all collectively adding to more than the sum of their parts. Its ending feels slightly tacked on after the intense six-minute journey, and the tone of the synth might feel a little misplaced, but overall, it’s an uplifting and joyful experience – a definite highlight.
The throaty low end of what THE OMNIFIC are doing works incredibly well in the technical storytelling areas of this record too. Thematically Will-O’-The-Wisp has an air of mystery, with a folkish inflection to the stripped back feel. The whole thing works nicely in the vein of the cautionary tales against these deceptive little elementals. Spooky, tempting and captivating, this is a really good instrumental experience with plenty of groove.
The latter half of this record has an easy flow between each song, it’s a tapestry interwoven together. Phat Mackerel begins with a sense of awe, almost grandiose and mighty as if contemplating the wider universe and the magic of the unknown. It dramatically swerves into some savage breakdown territory. It’s short and sweet, and bleeds effortlessly into Butterfingers. The chaos of the ever-clumsy individuals life feels comically accurately portrayed in this nonstop progressive onslaught. Hardly a beat is lost between this and the final track Double Malt Ditty, with all its twists and turns feeling both effortless and smooth and jam-packed with staccato jabs as per THE OMNIFIC way. Again, some of the synth choices are a little thin and perhaps draw the ear a little too much in the wrong way, but it’s still a super well played piece from the trio.
If this is your first foray into THE OMNIFIC and you’re looking to scratch that super contemporary, technical itch, The Law Of Augmenting Returns is a superb album that ticks a lot of the big proggy boxes. Boasting ever more confidence in their arrangements and skills, there’s still plenty of wonderfully silly moments that counter-weight the density of the details.
Rating: 8/10
The Law Of Augmenting Returns is set for release June 7th via Wild Thing Records.
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