Style: groove/djent (mixed vocals)
Review by: Josh
Country: US-TX
Release date: 9 July, 2021
A short short time ago, in a scene, far, far, away, trap music began to run stale. In the midst of a creative decline, few new artists seemed to be truly pushing the envelope, instead just biting the styles of other, more successful acts. As a consequence, the genre became inundated with competency. Not quality, but competency. Songs that didn’t do anything wrong, but at the same time didn’t really do anything right. Djent now faces much the same situation, and Scattered Storm, while not that unoriginal within the context of a single subgenre, bring little to the table that we haven’t seen before.
The band’s sound taps into groove metal and earlier djent, more Meshuggah than Periphery, while also echoing nu metal on occasion. It’s all fairly well-played – don’t get me wrong, everyone in this band is clearly skilled with their instrument of choice – but at the same time, there’s not much I can remark on their sound beyond that. Having any familiarity with the genres the band works in means that this EP will be a wholly unsurprising listen, with everything feeling somewhat stale. Scattered Storm certainly aren’t bad, but Oblivion leads one to wonder why they’re listening to them over someone else. There’s not really anything here to be blown away by.
The overall production quality of the album also has several glaring flaws that detract from the listening experience even to the inattentive listener. The clean guitar on “Aeon Flux” jars the listener out of what could’ve been a gripping introduction to the EP. Even if it didn’t clash with what the rest of the band was doing, it just sounds tiny and weak. I can’t fathom how it made it into the final cut of this release. This isn’t the only instance of tonal clash on the album. The clean vocals in the bridge section of “Empty” also lead to more confusion than anything, with the syncopated, djenty riff acting as horrendous accompaniment to the more straightforward vocals. The song “As if everyone knows your name” in particular feels like it was left on the wrong beat in arranging the final track. In terms of guesses as to how this happened, I’ve got nothing.
I must reiterate, though, Scattered Storm is not a bad band. Despite my previous criticisms, these guys can still most definitely play. Their guitarist is quite good, actually – their riffage is easily the most enjoyable part of Oblivion. I dragged on the vocals for “Empty”, but it really is a good song once you overlook the flaws on that front. Nothing groundbreaking, but the riffs are heavy and the rhythm section supports them well. Good riffs aren’t a scarce resource across the rest of the album, either – the guitar work is pretty consistently solid all the way through. While this EP may feel stale at times, it’s definitely not unenjoyable.
Oblivion is not a release for everyone. If you care about heaviness a whole lot and aren’t the most familiar with either of the listed genres for the band here, you’ll probably enjoy this release a good deal. It’s flawed, but the flaws for the most part lie outside the actual musicianship.
Recommended tracks: Kingslayer, Empty
Recommended for fans of: Meshuggah, Mudvayne
Final verdict: 5/10
Related links: Spotify | Facebook | Instagram
Label: Blood Blast – Website | Facebook | Instagram
Scattered Storm is:
– Andre Acosta (vocals)
– Kevin Armstrong (guitars)
– Jay Arriaga (drums, keyboards, samples)
0 Comments