BORN OF OSIRIS

Now that the whole tech-metal / djent surge has died down, its central protagonists are trying to forge new paths. BORN OF OSIRIS have been a significant force in such polished and technical matters, but the Illinois veterans have also hedged their bets somewhat. With a sound that takes the twists and tricks of djent and welds them skillfully to the streamlined chassis of 21st century metalcore, drummer Cameron Losch and his comrades have taken a direct approach to expanding horizons. In recent times, BORN OF OSIRIS have touched upon greatness: both 2015's "Soul Sphere" and its short-but-startling follow-up "The Simulation" (2019) took great strides forward and away from the rapidly wearying cliches of the modern prog metal scene. More recently, 2021's "Angel Or Alien" was a solid, post-pandemic effort that kept the band's creative juices flowing in tricky times. But four years on, "Through Shadows" gives the band a clearer opportunity to reassert themselves as heavyweights. Now stripped down to a quartet of Losch, vocalist Ronnie Canizaro, and guitarists Lee McKinney and Nick Rossi, the BOO crew are in an uncompromising mood on their seventh album.

There is an urgency to the way it begins. After a splutter of electronics and a digitized voiceover, "Seppuku" explodes with a venom that BORN OF OSIRIS haven't touched upon for many years. The riffs are sharp and jagged, the hooks are simple but effective, and the whole thing rattles and sparks with futuristic fervor. "Elevate" is even more instant and accessible: it weaves in post-rave quirks and a big, fat chorus with electronics deftly integrated into every riff, and is an object lesson in brevity into the bargain. That hazy blueprint nailed, "Through Shadows" has great fun bending its boundaries. The title track is an anthemic, alt-metal shout-along, but with jittery, tech-metal riffs hatched by some marauding robot, and a blissfully melodic guitar solo. "The War That You Are" notches up the heaviness and melodic simplicity simultaneously, Canizaro's harsh roar emerging from a shit-storm of churning deathcore riffs and machine-gun staccato. Nu-metal and sci-fi thrash collide on the blearily proggy "Inverno", which ends with a psychedelic / operatic breakdown that is very nearly as crazy and genre-phobic as IGORRR. In contrast, "A Mind Short Circuiting" is a fiendish maze of riffs and changes of pace, with more dissonance and discord than BORN OF OSIRIS fans are used to, and a surging, quasi-gothic underbelly with a hard-on for Gary Numan and old video games.

The second half of "Through Shadows" maintains the pace of change. "Burning Light" is a neat bit of post-synthwave melancholy; "In Desolation" and "Blackwater" are gnarly, mean-spirited crushers; "Torchbearer" and "Dark Fable" revel in electro-metal ecstasy, with gleaming vocal and synth hooks bursting up from thrilling messes of machine beats and simmering noise; and the absurdly catchy "Activated" blends all of the above into a near-perfect three minutes of elegant, trance-metal bluster, replete with syrupy, '80s saxophone solo. All of it strikes an impressive balance between technical sleight-of-hand and good, old-fashioned melodic satisfaction. BORN OF OSIRIS have not exactly reinvented themselves, but "Through Shadows" is a smart and sassy way to re-establish their modus operandi.