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Our Souls to You marks the third full-length outing for October File, which is listed as an Industrial act that blends in some Metalcore to their sound, which sounds far off from what is presented on this release. Honestly, this release comes off for as a Sludge album then anything. If you have not heard of this band before, the best way to sum up the sound is to picture Static-X doing a Sludge album with Ministry, but with deeper and often off-key vocals that crack, mixed with Metalcore. If you can picture a combination like that, and it's actually really pleasant to listen to, then you don't quite grasp October File. While much of the music on this release is good, there's nothing too fantastic to rave about with it, and the vocals are quite jerky through the entire album. First of all, the big problem about Our Souls to You is the vocals. It honestly sounds like the vocalist is trying to do some fancy Industrial-style vocals to suit the music of the same style, but in the end the effects just don't go through. Many of these attempts are apparent during "Isolation" where it sounds like a split second is to be cut off, or an echo effect used or something like that at key moments of the song. They aren't so horrendous they destroy the album, but holy crap do they play on your nerves much of the time. The vocals here are always either shouted, or at a low shout that could very well be a growl, but it's not, often trying to be harmonized with the music, but typically just off enough to really tick you off. This becomes a huge problem on some of the longer songs on here, such as "Dredge", which isn't a half bad song, but it's littered with moments where the vocals either feel out of place, where shouting or a rough growl of any kind is just not a smart idea, or in the case of the shorter "Eau Du War", which has plenty of moments that are completely off, or even would have sounded better sung. While these vocals do manage to change up, they will often sound very monotone through the album and sometimes crack, like the vocalist is struggling to hit higher notes with a lack of energy. Musically, the album has some good material, but at the same time there's a good chunk of material that really could be a little generic or questionable, such as during guitars towards the end of "September" which bring in a heavy Alternative Rock feeling. Everything else about this release really makes it feel like it's some kind of experimental release by the band, but not enough of an experiment to conside it Avante Garde. It's clear that the band is also trying to incorporate some Sludge elements to the music, and these hints are quite obvious during certain songs, such as on the longer tracks "Dredge" and "Our Souls to You (Part 1)", which finds these songs flowing nicely, but once in a while just feeling a bit overkill with the progressions used that are faintly familiar of the Sludge style. It also appears on the shorter tracks, such as "Crawl" which leaves a heavy nostalgic feeling of recent High On Fire releases, as well as during "Isolation" which is where this incorporated style really seems to show it's self off. In all fairness, there's still some good elements to the album. As stated, the song "A Public Display of Anger" is really the first genuinely good song you'll find on this release. Everything works well with each other, and even the vocals seem to pick up a bit and are a little higher then normal. This track has some Industrial influence in it, but really focuses more on being a very Sludge heavy song. Another great track for this release, aside the aforementioned Alternative Rock ending, is the faster song "September", as well as the closing track "Love is (A Warm AK47)", which is another one of the band's slower songs and really sounds like Static-X from the ground up, but everything just seems to work well for this track compared to some of the earlier material. Aside these tracks, it seems the first half of the album is plagued with problems between prolonging the end of the song with the longer tracks, or just vocals at times being almost untolerable, which is the case with the first three songs. The last track of the album, however, "Our Souls to You (Part 2)" is absolute garbage and the only time the Industrial aspect of the band genuinely comes through on this release. Basically it's a Trance song with the same repetitive simple drum sample and guitar sample against a sample of the vocalist shouting "Fuck" while random conversations from what has to be a movie clip go off in the background spaced out with random choir singing for a very brief second popping in, ending with someone singing "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" and the end of the conversation from that song closing the song out. It's enough to make you want to put a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger. Candlelight Records Edition The North American edition of this release through Candlelight Records features a bonus disc with four of the original songs from the main album mixed by Justin Broadrick, and they are just as bad as the closing track "Our Souls to You (Part 2)". All this guy did was take the first four songs off this album, add some slight distortions to the vocals if needed, but everything from start to finish just has an insanely obnoxious tinny distortion that overmodulates everything, as well as increases the sound of the bass to the point where it's overmodulated and doesn't even sound like a real bass should at times. These four songs are absolutely horrible and if anyone happens to enjoy these, or think they are in any way better then the songs presented on the main album, then we all need to put a gun in our mouths and pull the trigger because at that point, all hope in humanity and the future of music will be lost. Of course, I'm not saying really do this, but this is the point of frustration reached after listening to this edition from start to end of both discs, and it more then likely will be a shared view by many. Between the band being a failed conversion about half the time of Static-X and heavier Ministry, to tone deaf/off-key vocals, and a bonus disc that's just the same four starting songs made absolutely obnoxious to listen to, this release is hard to gain an appreciation of some times. The saving grace starts with the song "A Public Display of Anger", which really sets the tone for a better, well constructed October File, and it's sad that these four songs are the only tracks that don't have anything wrong with them. The music on Our Souls to You does show promise for the band, but October File really needs to pull their act together a little better and especially work on the vocal range for this album, as well as hitting the notes properly. Until then, this release is has some promise, and the Candlelight Records Edition's bonus disc is practically an invitation to suicide and has no real worth outside of being a coaster on your dining room table for your favorite coffee cup, and unless you need a new coaster, it's best to just avoid the bonus disc completely. |
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