OMRADE - EDARI [REVIEW]

Album: Edari

Artist: Omrade

Label: My Kingdom Music

Release Date: April 13^th, 2015

Reviewer: Habib T

An eclectic mix of strange sounds from various influences, such as jazz, post-rock, metal, and ambient music, Edari, the debut album by French band Omrade presents an interesting audio palate. The French duo’s 8-track album presents a foray into the weird and often unexplored territory of avant-garde metal and related music, joined by several guest musicians.

The opening track “Mótsögn” contains heavy jazz and progressive influences with impressive vocals, and the album continues with delectable electronic tones in “Mann Forelder”. Next comes an industrial and quite ambient track, “Luxurious Agony”, full of harrowing vocals that remind me somehow of Bjorn Strid’s vocals on Disarmonia Mundi’s Fragments of D-Generation album.  Edari also includes lovely female vocals in “Satellite and Narrow” and the closing track “Ottaa Sen” with synthesizers, which adds to the diverse sound of the album. One of the most haunting and goosebump-inducing tracks is “Aben Dor”, a seemingly creepy and immersive song with wonderful piano elements, also present in “Skam Parfyme”, a generally quieter track on the album. Another song, “Friendly Herpes”, in addition to being strangely-titled, contains progressive electronic elements and relaxing beats to form a beautiful atmospheric musical work. 

While it may not be a welcoming treat for some hardcore metal fans, Omrade’s Edari is both relaxing and haunting to listen to. An impressive collection of various sounds and influences, this album is a well-produced musical mosaic that I also wish would have contained an additional couple or more songs. Definitely recommended for fans of bands like Ulver and Manes. Overall, it is a wonderful piece of avant-garde metal from a band which I am certainly looking forward to future releases from.

8/10

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