Omniscient the best SP ablum since Messiah?

[farren]

I first got into SP when Messiah came out. The band or the label or someone had posted an MP3 of Vengeance Attained. Despite already being a huge John Arch fan, I was pretty damn sure the first two lines were sung by a woman. But anyway, I bought the album, loved it, but I didn't follow the band too closely, and next thing I knew Rick was out and there were split rumors and a period of dormancy and...

I came across the Tree of Knowledge video a few weeks ago. I enjoyed the video (even though it wasn't as unintendedly hilarious as the new Evergrey video), but the song struck me as mediocre. I checked out 666 is Everywhere and same story there. I was skeptical so I downloaded a full MP3 rip of the album somewhere. After one listen, I was blown away, deleted the MP3s and quickly ordered the Limited Edition. I highly recommend the LE, by the way--the digibook is very nice and it feels good to buy a properly accompanied album in a time when a lot of physical distributions of discs (especially true of video games) is bare-bones.

I find Omniscient reminiscent of Messiah, but quite a bit more experimental with a number of risks taken (which totally pay off).

Some stand-outs in ascending order:
-When I Remake the World which is more traditionally power metal-esque, but with a very hectic and cool verse riff (Take No Prisoners?).
-Trickery of the Scourge, of course, which reminds me of Ides of March. I can't imagine any Steel Prophet fan not liking this one a lot.
-Funeral for Art was initially my favorite. What can I say? Everything about this song is great. Completely unexpected tempo change toward the end which is just badass.
-Through Space and Time: This one builds brilliantly all the way to the end and the layering isn't excessively heavy or muddy, but very organic and psychedelic with complex rhythms. In fact, it nearly triggers some flashbacks. Also, the drums: I'm a guitarist, so when a song forces me to concentrate on the drums, I consider it an impressive feat. I haven't been quite that sucked into the drums in a song since Bobby Jarzombeck's on Arch/Matheos's "Any Given Day". This track is just exceptionally well-produced.

This isn't really a review. I just wanted to catch the attention of anyone else who wasn't particularly taken by the two singles released thus far. They're not bad songs by any means and are growing on me, and I realize I may not be the target audience for them, but there's a great diversity of styles and sounds found in Omniscient and digging deeper is necessary to discover that.

 

[stevekachinsky]

Personally, it's the best one of all time for me. I feel we got more right than wrong. Where I'm going with it is kind of prog/psychedelic/metal land. Somewhere I don't think has been traveled often. The next album will address the songwriting (catchier) and vocals (more power and bite) within this context... Should be a crowd pleaser!

 

[farren]

It definitely takes time to digest (I'm still digging it more and more) so it's certainly proggy in that respect. Glad to hear there are already plans for more, but don't make us wait another 10 years

 

[ihqkepukka]

I totally agree that it's a great album. The most powerfull songs sounds a bit like Agent Steel ''Order of illuminati'', and the most proggier stuff sounds fresh and reminds the Goddess Principle style songs here and there. So it's really nice indeed. I can't really say what could have been done different way, but the only thing that I didn't like was the sound of the drums. I am myself a drummer, so I pay attention to drumming details. I think the snare drum sounds like a SAUCEPAN and it steals too much attention from the overal sound. It might sound good on few songs, but when it's everywhere... it's one thing that I personally didn't like.

 

[stevekachinsky]

Interesting... I really liked the snare sound. I thought it had enough pop, crack and thud to be pretty good. I was hoping for a John Bonham sound, but that's pretty tough to come by... Lia was responsible for the sound. He'd be pretty bummed to hear it sounds like a saucepan! lol Glad to hear your opinion though bro.

 

[farren]

Hmm, I think the snare sounds good. But I've already warned I'm not a drummer, and to further discredit myself, I like the (completely different) snare sound in DT's A Change of Seasons

 

[Vacant_Planets]

Interesting... I really liked the snare sound. I thought it had enough pop, crack and thud to be pretty good. I was hoping for a John Bonham sound, but that's pretty tough to come by... Lia was responsible for the sound. He'd be pretty bummed to hear it sounds like a saucepan! lol Glad to hear your opinion though bro.

I'm going to have to agree, I think it sounds good, don't know what you'd expect a Bonham sound on a power metal album. lol

 

[stevekachinsky]

I think a Bonham sound could work. I mean that clicky bass drum sound most metal bands use today dates back to Bob Seger - Ramblin', Gamblin' Man circa 1969! Bonham's snare was so good I think Lars Ulrich was always trying to get that on the 'Black' album. When he realized he couldn't get it he went for the "St Anger" tone that all the fans 'loved'!

 

[ihqkepukka]

I think i have to take my words back now, as I really started to get into that snare sound on the album. I think my problem was that it was ''too new'' for me, as I was used more to other snare sounds during the years. I am kind a freak who never listened to Metallica before (except few songs), so it was interesting to find the things you mentioned about snare sound on black and ''st anger'' albums.