Short Reviews [The Osiris Club - 2020 - "Blazing Worlds: Live at Roadburn & Twicefold of Kind"]

According to the band themselves, they were originally conceived as an instrumental project, fusing horror movie soundtracks with avant-metal, but has now morphed into a something which takes the best parts of 1970’s progressive, 1980’s post-punk and 1990’s extreme rock. That is a brave statement to make, and not one which I can wholeheartedly agree it must be said. The full title of this album is ‘Blazing Worlds - Live at Roadburn & Twicefold of Kind’, which combines seven songs taken from their 2015 performance at the Roadburn Festival plus two additional numbers. These are Random Hold’s “Meat”, which comes as a bonus track with the download of the album, and “Leaf Scrapings” by Cardiac Arrest (later Cardiacs), which was released as a charity fundraiser for Tim Smith's ongoing care, although Tim sadly died just a few weeks after this album was released last year. I am also not sure how the general public get both of the additional songs, as the digital download from Bandcamp only contains the initial seven, while apparently “Meat” comes with the CD as a download, but I am not sure how people can get “Leaf Scrapings” as part of this release even though both those songs presumably form the “Twicefold of a Kind” element of the album title. Anyway, when it comes to the actual style of music the band are playing, they have way more in common with 80’s alternative bands than anything else, as while the use of some proggy-style may link them to some of the 90’s neo-prog units it certainly does not compare to the best of what was coming out of the Seventies. As to where on earth they get the idea they can compare themselves to extreme metal acts is just beyond me. Apparently at this point in time the band were performing in robes and plague masks, and I presume that to get the full benefit one had to be there. I have seen some rave reviews of this album, so as normal I find myself in a minority, but while there are plenty out there who seem to enjoy this style of music, for me it is just too rooted in the 80’s post punk alternative scene, which was something I didn’t understand when I lived through it the first time. Not one to which I can see myself returning.