Odonis Odonis
self-titled
Royal Mountain Records
While the sound of Toronto duo Odonis Odonis’ new self-titled LP may seem like a hard left turn from the machine-driven hard industrial rock of their last album, the excellent 2021 release Spectrums, a review of the band’s catalogue helps put the change into perspective. The band’s first couple of releases were clamorous, akin to the noisy guitar-driven sound of acts like A Place to Bury Strangers, before transitioning into the more synth and drum machine heavy sound around the time of 2016’s Post Plague. Thus, while the less aggressive and more moody sound of their latest is a departure for folks who got on board in recent years, it’s not hard to draw connections between the album’s moody, melodic sound and Odonis Odonis’ origins in noise rock and shoegaze.
With that said, there is a fairly strong carry-over in terms of the quality and depth of the production from the preceding releases. Opener “The Same” works a slowly building groove driven by live drums, and some wide-open reverbs that swirl around chorused rhythm guitar and snatches of orchestral synth pads and ghostly backing vocals, building gradually in intensity without boiling over. Alternately, the fuzzy bass and detuned guitar that make up the basis of the sparse “Come Alive” are a solid foundation upon which the song’s vocals become more and more insistent; eventually breaking out into a nimble bit of melodic post-punk. The mix is kept clean and clear, with enough heft to sell any individual element when it takes center stage, be it the funky drum break that starts off the instrumental workout “Distraction”, or the ascending synth arpeggios of “Consumed”.
That said, more than any of their preceding records, there’s a focus on vocals here, with songs built to get them across. Primary vocalist Constantin Tzenos is particularly well-suited the album’s groovy, pseudo-Madchester vibe, bringing out the stoned ennui that sells “We Are God”, and sounding at home when being pushed by waves of shoegaze guitars on “Hijacked”. Where putting the vocals right up in front can often obscure the instrumental aspects of the song, Odonis Odonis leave room for them to carry melody and mood in equal measure. Closing track “Bliss” feels all the more effective for the brightness and clarity of the vocal behind the hazy fog that hangs over the remainder of the song.
Whether or not anyone who came aboard over the last decade or so of Odonis Odonis records will find what they’re looking for on this album is anyone’s guess; it’s no doubt a much less mechanical experience, and forgoes the aggression in favour of melody and texture. Divorcing it from any expectations, it’s a well-made and performed collection of songs that have a pleasingly live feeling, both solid and well-considered.
Buy it.
