PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Obsessive Compulsive hit the heights with a mix of songs that will have you salivating for more.
Manchester’s best loved Alternative Rock band are back with their second album which follows on from the very well received ’Dreams Of Death And The Death Of Dreams’ debut which hit the masses in 2010.
The band continue to avoid constriction and conformity with ’Seculo Seculorum’, indeed the band have become (and possibly always have been) very difficult to pin down to a particular genre or moniker, drawing on a pretty wide range of influences and tastes to form their own rather unique sound. Is it Rock, is it Punk, is it Grunge? Who knows, possibly not even the band themselves, as they stick to their commendable ethos of producing music that they like, rather than pandering to whims or fickle fashion.
Compared to the aforementioned debut, ’Seculo..’ is streets ahead in both terms of writing and delivery, demonstrating how quickly the band are developing and blossoming into something just a bit special. The album has a much more fluid and unrestrained feel to it for a start, a comment borne out by the sheer variety of styles and tempos on show. Opener ’Sick Sick Sick’, with it’s message of the all too familiar struggle with the monotonous and dreary drudge of 9 to 5 living is contrasted really well with the beautiful and haunting passion that forms my personal favourite, ’Swallow The Sound’, a track that see’s Kelii’s vocal take you on a journey to some pretty dark places of the conscious and subconscious. Indeed, if we continue to analyze the vocals it becomes glaringly apparent that a great deal of what Kelii sings about comes straight from the heart, whether it be from personal experience or from things happening around, it all gets thrown at you in an undiluted, raw, sopping wet sponge of emotion.
Equally impressive is the guitar sound that Giz brings to the table, melodious shoe gaze post punk, there you go, how’s that for a new genre? Seriously though, it’s really heart warming and encouraging to find a band that are able and perhaps more importantly, willing, to break the mould and forge ahead with their infectious, well structured brand of thought provoking, accessible, inventive music that is very hard to fault.
The album benefits greatly as well, from a really top notch production sound which allows each individual element of the band to combine without getting lost in the mix, making for an exceptionally well rounded feel to proceedings, ’Soul Sucker’, in my view, shows this better than any other track, alternating as it does between the taunting vocals and power rich guitar hooks, driven by a pretty damn immense rhythm section that serves to further stoke up the fires of rebellion.
As previously mentioned, the album is a hard one to pigeon hole and in many respects is all the better for that fact, it’s as aggressive as it is soulful and as dark as it is upbeat. A real eclectic mix of songs that come together to form a refreshingly honest and accomplished piece of work, pass it by at your peril.
The band are still out on the road around the U.K. at time of press, so check out the usual Facebook page etc for details.
Track Listing;
1. Sick Sick Sick
2. Regurgitate
3. Stamp Your Own Path
4. Jardim Gramacho
5. Nail In My Coffin
6. Float
7. Soul Sucker
8. Things Clean And Unclean
9. Fight Or Flight
10. No Logo
11. Swallow The Sound
Obsessive Compulsive are;
Kelii – Vocals
Giz – Guitars
Pete – Bass
Dani – Drums
‘Seculo Seculorum‘, Out via Vociferous Records on the 24th of June.
http://www.obsessivecompulsiveband.com
https://www.facebook.com/ObsessiveCompulsiveBand
