Ovtrenoir – Eroded (Consoling Sounds)
Friday, 29th January 2016
The primary constituents of Paris’s Ovtrenoir have been around enough bands to warrant sufficient name-dropping. Guitarist/vocalist William Lacalmontie has taken band photographs for the likes of Corrections House and Godflesh. And fellow guitarist Dehn Sora has handled the design layout for Blut Aus Nord and Amnrea. Therefore, it wouldn’t be out of line to insinuate the two of them picked up some new things during their non-musical, but musically-related side pursuits, right? If they did happen to pick up anything, it’s the ability to find footing in the well-traveled lands that is apocalyptic post-metal, something Ovtrenoir goes for across their five-song Eroded EP.
Stop us if you haven’t heard this spread of influences: Neurosis, Isis, and Cult of Luna. It’s essentially the beginning and end point for the Frenchmen in terms of their sonic scope. The riffs have that legitimately beefy freight, pummeling, and pummeling, and pummeling in sonic slow-mo. (The beginning of “Consume” is particularly large-and-in-charge.) The rare bout of melody also pops up in “Consume,” although Ovtrenoir never quite takes the full dynamic melodic drop-out bait that Cult of Luna and Isis were so prolific in doing.
Really, Eroded just reeks of what all the post-metal giants have already done, which in most instances, is a quick ticket out of town. But give Ovtrenoir this: Their flagrant sleeve-wearing doesn’t diminish the fact that the five songs here are, what you say? “Monolithic.”
