Chicago's metal maestros Born Of Osiris, or BOO as they're affectionately known by their fans have returned in 2009 with their sophomore effort on Sumerian Records, A Higher Place, a tech-deathcore masterpiece that sees the band taking a step up from 2007's The New Reign.
From start to finish Higher Place is chuck full of infectious guitar licks and hooky riffs. BOO have clearly brought their A-game here, exemplifying their technical wizardry while still keeping their songs interesting and brutal. They exhibit the right amount of musicianship without coming across as overindulgent, which can certainly get old fast *cough*Dragonforce*cough*.
The biggest difference between The New Reign and A Higher Place is an obvious lack of breakdowns in the new material. When they do come up they appear to be used in a much more calculated manner, rather than for the sake of just another heavy bit to bang your head to.
Perhaps this is a BOO trying to avoid being swept into the category of bands like Emmure and Whitechapel, carving out their own niche in the modern metal community. Comparisons to bands like The Faceless abound, but BOO defy these when they do things like add a hip-hop-esque bit to the end of songs (see the "Now Arise" video below, its crazy, but pretty fucking cool).
Born Of Osiris aren't a band thats technical for the sake of being technical either, they incorporate a lot of math-metal influence into their own brand of tech-death while still maintaining your attention. They're music is still fun to listen to, it's not just some masturbatory shred-fest, and I give them credit for not falling into that trap.
Overall A Higher Place is a pretty devastating release, although none of the tracks strike me as being as anthemic as songs like "Bow Down" and "Open Arms To Damnation" were on The New Reign. Perhaps a few more spins will prove me wrong. Either way, the new material is awesome and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing these guys again on Summer Slaughter!
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