Short Reviews [Oh. - 2018 - "Metallia"]

Greek composer and musician Olivia Hadjiioannou, has been an active creator of progressive rock and progressive metal since 2013 under the Oh. moniker. Primarily studio based from what I understand, she has released a good handful of EPs and one full length album so far. The mini-album "Metallia" is her most recent production, and it was self-released in the summer of 2018. On this mini-album, progressive metal is the name of the game, and a rather peculiar variety of it at that. The non-verbal backing vocals of Olivia is something of a key trait throughout, adding a primal, raw emotional sheen to the proceedings, and a striking contrast to the rather more challenging instrument arrangements too. The songs are all intense, often chaotic, just about always challenging. Fluctuating from one expression to another, flirting with epic orchestral metal just as much as abrasive, non-harmonic quirky instrument wanderings. The occasional world music flavoring may appear here and there, some shredding and wild guitar effects as well, scale movements have their place as do good, old fashioned chugging riff cascades. The latter more of a brief appearance admittedly. The six songs provide subtly different variations on these and some more, the subtly different perhaps being a detail to take note of. The variation isn't strikingly different from one song to the next, which may be for the better or the worse depending on your personal point of view. If challenging, occasionally abrasive instrumental progressive metal is your thing, and you enjoy landscapes of this kind that are given a primal, deeply emotional wordless vocal coating, Oh.'s mini-album "Metallia" merits a check.