By:
Ernesto Aguilar
Album Type: Full length
Date Released: 06/10/2017
Label: Tofu Carnage Records
Omotai
shines best on songs like "A Savage Sky," where their hardcore
foundations converge with doom and other influences for exceptional tracks. Omotai
answers the lingering queries about its return with a resoundingly solid new
release, gives a unique varnish to possibly familiar grounds.
“A Ruined Oak”
CD//DD//LP track listing
1.
Welcome to the Adders' Land
2.
Ruined Oak
3.
Last of the Green Vial
4.
Arms That Flood
5.
Blackjaw
6.
Back to the Drifting Satellite
7.
A Cruel Weight, Thy Wound
8.
Fire is a Whore
9.
A Maiden Nerve
10.
The Savage Sky
11.
Augustina
12.
Tusk Aurora
The Review:
The
city of Houston, Texas has a lot of be proud of. Its Astros just won the World
Series. It continues to prosper. And Houston has developed a serious pool of
metal talent that has caused waves this year. Blues Funeral
is just one of many Texas heavy acts to release albums in 2017, and now
Houston-based Omotai is back after a three-year layoff
with "A Ruined Oak."
The
quartet's progressive/doom vibe has been making Houston better since 2009. With
a debut EP in 2010 and full length releases in 2012 and 2014, "A Ruined Oak" hurtles Omotai back into the heavy music fray. The scene has seen
many evolutions since its last recording. How Omotai
can pull off its style, which has been reliant on new and classic inspirations,
could have been the most tantalizing questions coming in.
The
brisk "Welcome to the Adders'
Land" sets a hectic pace to mark the band's newest. Its more
doom-inflected elements are laden with some hardcore drive, making this an
excellent start. This mood continues on the title track. The composition is
aggressive, tight and focused. Vocal duties throughout the album are shared
among instrumentalists Sam Waters, Melissa Lonchambon Ryan, Jamie Ross and
Daniel Mee, making for an intriguing mix on the second song, and across other
cuts. A song like "Blackjaw"
is one of the better showcases for such multi-layered vocals. As well, here and
on "Back to the Drifting Satellite,"
Omotai creatively interpolates progressive touches to its
very dense landscapes. Some could fault a few cuts for potentially being
derivative of more popular acts. However, Omotai gives a unique
varnish to possibly familiar grounds.
The
band's most strongly progressive takes start around the final third of the
album, with "A Cruel Weight, Thy
Wound" being the signpost. It is a masterful cut, with syncopated
guitar riffs soaring with the varied vocal approaches. The band's chemistry is
just as bewitching on "Fire is a
Whore," where pulsing rhythms meet oscillating chords and contrastive
singing and effects. However, the percussion kicks in come "A Maiden Nerve," indicating a turn
back to the atmosphere of the album's open.
Omotai shines best on songs like
"A Savage Sky," where
those hardcore foundations converge with doom and other influences for
exceptional tracks. Even when a melodic progressive cut
like "Augustina" may have
benefitted from better placement, you still won't lose sight of how innovative
its harmonies and orchestration are. Overall, Omotai
answers the lingering queries about its return with a resoundingly solid new
release.
"A
Ruined Oak" is available here:
