Genre/Influences: Dark-electro.

Background/Info: Stephen Bailey and Joel Walker aka ‘Svipal’ are back on track unleashing the second album from their Offerings To Odin project. I discovered the band a few years ago by their debut work “Ravenous”, which revealed some cool ideas although the global production suffered from a lack of professionalism.

Content: “Hoc Voluerent” features 10 songs plus 2 remixes. The sound is clearly influenced by dark-electro although the leads also have something cold-techno like. The global production process became more professional and also the songwriting has improved. Offerings To Odin doesn’t deal with the ‘classical’ harsh and merciless dark-electronics; the sound and especially the rhythmic is more controlled. The vocals remain however harsh and extremely distorted.

The tenth song is a cover version of the famous “Goodbye Horses” (originally performed by Q Lazzarus) followed by two remixes by Alien Vampires and Hocico.

+ + + : I noticed a serious improvement compared to the debut album, which might explain why this work has been promoted by X-Beats (Jan Loamfield from Noisuf-X). This album is totally devoted to dark-electronics and yet there’s something unique running through it. I think it’s maybe of the cadence, which is never exaggerated and the leads having something technoid on top. Both remixes are cool, but especially the one by Hocico, which also is the best song from the album.

– – – : There is still too much linearity in this work. The sound formula is repetitive, the songs becoming a bit predictable after a while.

Conclusion: I can’t say this album is a major success, but it clearly features a band that has made a serious step forward.

Best songs: “Death Throes – Hocico Deathfloor Remix”, “A Delicate Balance”, “Death Throes”, “Mad As Hell – Alien Vampires Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.offeringstoodin.com / www.facebook.com/offeringstoodin

Promoter: www.facebook.com/xbeatspromotion

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark EBM.

Background/Info: Offerings To Odin is a Denver based band consisting of Stephen Bailey and Joel Walker aka Svipal. The band has been active since 2012 and claims to be inspired by themes like mythology, runes, art, misanthropy, dancing, video games, beer, wine, food, electronics, history, synth building, hockey while the music clearly sounds dark and electro-like. “Ravenous” is their debut-album, which was already released a few months ago.

Content: “Ravenous” clearly sounds inspired by elements of dark-electro and EBM. The songs are carried by melodic passages, which clearly is one of the album’s main characteristics. The sound is not exactly into the typical kind of dark-electro format, but remains rather ‘soft’, a bit moody-like, but danceable.

Most of the vocal lines are harsh and compressed although the band experiences with a few other ideas like whispering passages and an interesting half-spoken experiment on “Familiar Taste Of Blood”. This is an interesting cut as it was originally written by Enduser and Rachel Kann (cf. album “Comparing Paths”).

A few cuts are a little more powerful and fast, but globally speaking “Ravenous” remains driven by slow tempos.

+ + + : “Ravenous” features less surprises and no real innovation although the already mentioned “Familiar Taste Of Blood” is an interesting experiment accomplished with refreshing sounds and a different vocals production. Even the rhythms sound different and a bit broken-like. This is for sure the most original song of the album. About the other tracks, I especially like the melodic aspect supporting the songs, which makes Offerings To Odin quite accessible.

– – – : The ideas and intention is pretty okay, but you can hear that this is a debut album. Most of the songs suffer from a lack of elaboration. The global production remains a bit unaccomplished.

Conclusion: I don’t want to be severe; “Ravenous” is a debut album revealing a few cool ideas the band now has to elaborate and improve. Just put this work in the hands of an experienced producer and Offerings To Odin will sound different for sure!

Best songs: “Familiar Taste Of Blood”, “DMT”, “Stepping Stone”.

Rate: (6).

Band: www.offeringstoodin.com / www.facebook.com/offeringstoodin

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com