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Ovid's Withering - Terraphage review




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Reviewer:
6.0

21 users:
7.38
Band: Ovid's Withering
Album: Terraphage
Release date: March 2020


01. Oracle
02. Godless
03. Spectres On The Ebon River
04. The Bandits Of Shamblekeep
05. At The Dreadlord's Behest
06. Ballad Of The Lycan
07. Bloodscape
08. Tholg
09. Desperation
10. Corpsemover I
11. Corpsemover II

Deathcore appears to be reaching its final form, but those who helped during the developmental stages aren't necessarily the same ones still pushing the envelope.

Ovid's Withering blew up in the scene with their 2013 full-length debut, Scryers of the Ibis -- a unique take on the style, infused with elements of djent, symphonic metal, and black metal. Monumental in its ambition and historically significant as a clear and divisive initiate of increasingly progressive deathcore, their understated influence has paved a forked path to their most recent release: Terraphage.

The form and feel of an album such as this is inherently dichotomous, being so painstakingly crafted and thematic, yet chaotic and scattered in delivery due to an almost intentional barrage of sound. It's an unhinged collection of wildly varied ideas that aren't nearly as cohesive as with their debut. The distracting, awkward spoken-growled word passages (featuring the kind of "poetic" lyrics you hear during a high school poetry presentation); the obtrusive, grandiose synth abuse; and the recycled standard riffing are all parts that make up a rather bloated, disengaging whole. But it's far from all bad. Terraphage's greatest downfall is simultaneously its most admirable quality: With such a vast array of noise assaulting your ear canals, something is bound to stand out, even if only for moments dispersed across an hour of this specifically branded identity carved out during the better part of a decade.

Despite its overt flaws, the overall structure receives a late-game buff on an otherwise convoluted mess of an album, elevating it to heights that could garner it "listenable" -- and even "enjoyable" for some. While it spends the bulk of its journey building up through clumsily executed concepts, Terraphage concludes with the one area wherein Ovid's Withering excel: simplicity. Ironic, given their contextually avant-garde leanings, but their style has always been one that takes a basic foundation and expands into territories that, at times, it seems the band isn't even aware or sure of, but that complexity was previously allowed to grow organically from that baseline. That isn't showcased on this album until its climactic two-parter: a groove-oriented, mid-paced chug-a-thon that works up to a melody-laden mid-section buoyed by its soaring symphonic backdrop, closing awkwardly again with some misplaced spoken word.

With a streamlined approach to these more challenging structures, confining them to simpler points of origin rather than immediately racing for the finish line, this album could have been so much more digestible without losing any of what makes it what it is. Perhaps on their next release, we'll truly hear the potential unleashed, sending tidal waves through the community with yet another destructive, revolutionary force in the scene that shakes its core to death.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 5
Originality: 8
Production: 9





Written on 10.06.2020 by I'm total pro; that's what I'm here for.


Comments

Comments: 5   Visited by: 53 users
10.06.2020 - 21:32
SoUnDs LiKe PoP

Disclaimer: I've only listened to the album once.

With that said - my first listen was a huge disappointment. First album was great - tons of memorable melodies. Sounded like a dark heavy metal retro video game.

This album? The keys serve almost no purpose, it's like they're just there to be there. The double-bass peddling is way overrused, to the point that it becomes exhausting and grating on the ears. The guitars just chug along and do nothing interesting. The new vocalist doesn't sound as evil or convincing.

Maybe my mind will change with more listens, but yeah, my first impression was not positive.
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I lift weights and listen to metal
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10.06.2020 - 22:21
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Man i thought i read about mud 90 s melo bm band, simmilar artwork, song tittles, you said poetic lyrics, gonna check this out, because artwork, maybe core is not so bad,
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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11.06.2020 - 05:09
Rating: 6
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Bad English on 10.06.2020 at 22:21

Man i thought i read about mud 90 s melo bm band, simmilar artwork, song tittles, you said poetic lyrics, gonna check this out, because artwork, maybe core is not so bad,

Just so you aren't taken aback, the black metal aspect of this is a supporting element, not a primary one. And I referenced the lyrics being on par with a high school level. Don't expect anything thought provoking.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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11.06.2020 - 05:10
Rating: 6
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by SoUnDs LiKe PoP on 10.06.2020 at 21:32

Disclaimer: I've only listened to the album once.

I've listened to it three times and my opinion only worsened each time, as its replay value is sorely lacking. If there's anything worth listening to again, it's the two-part closer and the intro. The rest is filler.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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21.06.2020 - 03:51
SoUnDs LiKe PoP

Written by Troy Killjoy on 11.06.2020 at 05:10

Written by SoUnDs LiKe PoP on 10.06.2020 at 21:32

Disclaimer: I've only listened to the album once.

I've listened to it three times and my opinion only worsened each time, as its replay value is sorely lacking. If there's anything worth listening to again, it's the two-part closer and the intro. The rest is filler.


In light of your comment, the only thing I've re-listened to since my last comment was the closing two-parter... and I didn't enjoy it. So if that's the highlight of the album, oof.... not even sure I'll bother giving the rest more listens. Maybe eventually.
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I lift weights and listen to metal
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