It’s been three years since Allegaeon released their sixth album, Damnum, which saw the band take some big steps away from some of their foundations (heavy science lyrics, diving further into some proggy waters) and it turned out to be a fantastic success. The band then parted ways with vocalist Riley McShane and former vocalist Ezra Haynes returned to the fold. The Ossuary Lens is an intriguing album to hear given some of these dynamic shifts. It brings some of the old, more visceral Allegaeon back to the forefront, but at the same time, it somehow manages to maintain the more expansive sound they strived so hard to achieve with Damnum.
Truly, it’s hard to really dissect The Ossuary Lens to the point of saying how the direction of the band has shifted, but it’s certainly 100% Allegaeon. The techy, often frantic energy of the band is here in full force, and you have to look no further than to hear “The Swarm” to see how delightfully chaotic and beautiful it still sounds. The tech battery that opens the track is gleefully dizzying as the guitars and drums urgently swirl around each other and Haynes’ aggressive barks. It’s an excellent combination of tech wizardry held together by subtle melodies that Allegaeon have evolved to a science over the years (yes, pun intended). “Dies Irae” carries with it some of the band’s more cinematic and sweeping side, only to blast off into full speed blackened riffing. Some later slowdown into punishing mid-tempo grooves serve to let the melodies truly take hold, and the showy and thrilling solo showmanship gives the track even more appeal. Then there’s the acoustic guitar drenched “Dark Matter Dynamics,” which moves back and forth between playful guitar licks and headbangable melodic riffing with a certain ‘spacey’ feeling to it. As one of the more melodically driven tracks, it’s an easy standout as the song just embeds itself in your skull.
For those thinking that the band’s evolution attained on Damnum would not be continued, there’s also a number of cuts that provide evidence of the band finding their way forward. First single “Driftwood” provides that battering ram of riffs, and opens up to an absolutely gorgeous clean vocal chorus from Haynes. The dynamic shifts here make for a riveting track, as it zips between brutality and beauty in just the right proportions. Later cut “Wake Circling Above” has an almost doomy vibe to it, really soaking in the melancholic vibes in a unique way for the act. Of course, it explodes into some visceral death metal at times but even then it maintains a more urgent tone with Haynes’ expressive roars atop some soaring synths. The shift into some clean singing from guitarist Michael Stancel is a welcome treat, and one that elevates the song further into reflective territory. Then there’s the closing number, “Scythe.” It continues further down the progressive slant with it’s clean opening (with more Stancel vocals) before it jumps into more frenetic riffing. But it works the midtempo melodies for all they are worth, with a massive sense of atmosphere that grabs you with it’s urgency yet still compels you to headbang with it’s rumbling tech prowess. In other words, a closer that is going to make you want to re-listen asap.
Allegaeon continue to show that they are one of the strongest bands in the modern tech scene. The Ossuary Lens hits just as hard as you’d like, but has such a vast amount of memorability to it that you are going to be wowed by each track. Brutal but emotive, it leans into the strongest aspects that Allegaeon have cemented into their sound over the years, and sees them continue to evolve them and swirl them into an addictive mix that expresses their continued hunger to innovate with each new album.