Osyron – Momentous
Osyron is a Canadian band formed in 2012. Momentous is their third full-length album, and it is a massive undertaking. Firmly entrenched in the Symphonic Power Metal realm, they use more Death Metal style vocals to elevate their game, sometimes dropping the Power Metal into Sludge/Doom Metal territory just to keep things interesting. They are definitely on the heavier end of the scale, using guitar tunings and faster rhythms to ensure the listener knows this is not the standard fare. There is nothing cookie-cutter about this album.
Band Members:
- Reed Alton – Vocals
- Krzysztof Stalmach – Guitars
- Bobby Harley – Guitars
- Tyler Corbett – Bass
- Cody Anstey – Drums
November 4, 2022
Tracklist:
- Anunnaki
- Dominion Day
- The Deafening
- Landslide
- Sorrow And Extinction
- Beyond The Sun
- Awake
- Momentous
- Prairie Sailor
- Beacons
“Anunnaki” is a down-tuned, delicious opener to an album. The intro is a short piece with various string instruments and some chanting vocals. When the song’s main body kicks in, all gentleness is destroyed. The lead scream of the song’s title is a killer harsh vocal that leads into the leading riff. The drums are measured and moderate, not hitting too heavy but definitely bringing a solid rhythm to bear. The bass hovers under the riff, lurking like a predator waiting to strike. The combination of clean and harsh vocals compliments each other well. This is an excellent lead-off song.
Next, we get “Dominion Day,” a slower piece that doesn’t feel as heavy but still hits hard. The melodic vocals, with the muted drum and guitar work, build a bit of suspense. You know something bigger is coming, and that hits with a shift back to a more electric sound from the guitar as the rest of the instruments join in at full volume. Then, “The Deafening” opens with more solemn strings and almost medieval acoustic guitar tones. It opens gently but becomes heavy for the chorus, interlude, and bridge. The solo is beautifully placed and paced in the song.
“Landslide” starts with harsh vocals and a lightning-fast riff. Throw in a bass fill, and you get an almost perfect Power Metal song. The chugging rhythm that shifts to a melodic phrasing for the clean vocal interlude is almost Prog Metal, showing off some technical skill in execution and composition. The return to the chugging riff, especially with those drum passages, is freaking beautiful. Add in the scream at the song’s end, and you get an early favorite. There is a lot to love in this track.
Does every Power Metal album need a Power Ballad? Of course, here we find “Sorrow And Extinction,” the track that takes its’ time building to the heavier sections. We get a little bit of cry added to the vocals in a few lines, creating an emotional pull to the track. The bass drives this song a bit more than the drums, stepping a little more into the forefront, making its’ presence felt as much as heard.
Again, “Beyond The Sun” builds from a lighter tone to something much heavier. After a lower register vocal opening, a fantastic climbing note drops at the end, showing Reed has incredible control over his instrument. This is the song where he belts, growls, croons, and grits at different times. The bass and drums both take turns shining through, balancing the guitars superbly.
“Awake” is heavy from the start. The riff bounds out from the first note, washing over your head and making you catch your breath. That’s why the melodic drop is so surprising. This is the song that goes in the opposite direction of everything else, fading into the verses rather than building to them. The bridges are still full of heaviness, offsetting the mellowness of the lyrical areas.
The title track, “Momentous,” is the epic Power/Progressive Metal song you would expect on an album of this caliber. At over 12 minutes, it has some of everything: different vocalists, acoustic guitars, wind instruments, and a wall of sound in the heavy sections. There is something for everyone in this song. It checks every box a proper Power Metal album has, strings, shreddy guitar solos, layered vocals, and an epic theme. There are shifts in genres, tones, and tempos, and all is done with remarkable precision.
The shortest track on the disc follows “Prairie Sailor.” This song has nothing but keyboard tones and sea-shanty-style vocals. The tone is eerie and melancholy, and beautiful. That leads into the final track, “Beacons.” This is another one that starts heavy, but this one stays there, not shifting to melodic. The drums and bass have some excellent mid-phrase shifts that give the song a bit of a Prog feel without going full-on Prog Metal. The vocals again astound the senses. The flips from clean to harsh, turning the grit on and off mid-line, all show what this band can do.
These guys know how to not just write songs but craft something that is more than just a bunch of notes slapped together in sequence. These are significant undertakings, stunning works of musical art. The whole thing paints a picture, playing like a movie in the listeners’ minds. Having taken time during the pandemic to write this one, they had a lot of time to hone this one to the stunning piece of music you hear. They’ve accomplished something special here, recording a heavy, melodic, doomy, symphonic, and powerful album. This album truly is “Momentous.”
MZ Ratings:
- Musicianship
- Guitars – 10
- Rhythms – 10
- Vocals – 10
- Songwriting – 10
- Production – 10
- Overall – 10.00
