Album title: Evolution
Artist: Once Human
Genre: Melodic Death Metal/Progressive Metal/Djent
Nationality: American
Release date: February 17
Position in Discography: Second
Fear Factor: High
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? A little
Average RYM Score: 2.99
There are a lot of genre tags pertaining to this band, some good, some bad. Jesus Christ! That's a woman on vocals? Holy, if you'll forgive the expletive, ****! Musically though it does sound more proggy than death, even if the vocals place it firmly in the latter category. Some great musicanship here, and although I don't know much about MDM, I'd call this definitely more progressive (or maybe djent, though I'm very unfamiliar with that) and if it wasn't for the vocals I doubt this would be getting the DM tag in any fashion. I mean, I'm not even sure it fits. The musicanship is generally excellent, but the vocals seem almost at odds with the music, like they're trying to force themselves to be a death metal band when they're really nothing of the sort. I don't know: give me a “normal” singer and I think this band would be definitely seen in a different light. There's a sample of what this would be like in “Paragon”, where she lapses for a moment into clean vocals, which obviously would be my preference. It's not that I particularly hate DM vocals: if they're necessary and appropriate to the music then fine, but I just feel these are not. It just feels completely out of place next to the music. Maybe I just don't understand Melodic Death Metal. For all that, good stuff though, and certainly worth a listen.
Check out more from this artist? Not really sure. Maybe.
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes
Expectation Index: 8