THE LAW OF AUGMENTING RETURNS

I was quite intrigued when I saw this, as while I have not previously come across Melbourne-based trio The Omnific before, any band with two bassist (plus some guest bassists) are certainly worth hearing, especially when they say their musical style is prog metal. Matt Fack (bass, programming), Toby Peterson-Stewart (bass) and Jerome Lematua (drums) have returned with this their second album after touring with The Hu, and all I can say is I need to hear a lot more from these guys. Mind you, I was quite confused at the beginning as it commences with a barbershop quartet by Tim Waurick, and excerpts from Luke Taylor of Australian alt-metalcore upstarts Heartline. There is obviously not enough bass on the album so they invited both British YouTube sensation Charles Berthoud, and exhilarating Australian newcomer Kai den Hertog to guest on the title track, as why not?

Keyboard player Rohan Sharma (I Built The Sky) appears throughout the album, but for the most part this is often just two bassists and a drummer, yet one soon loses all sense of what is going on and instead fall into the symphonic and deep masterpiece which is this release. They are determined not to take themselves too seriously so we do have some almost comical interludes here and there, which means that when the trio get down to business the intensity is compelling. I kept having the thought that of Beethoven was alive today this is the band he would be composing for as it is complex, deep, somehow orchestral and symphonic all at the same time. I would think they are more brutal live without the keyboards to provide the contrast, and one can imagine them sitting happily alongside mathcore legends such as Protest The Hero as they can be quite brutal when the mood takes them. Somehow this is far more varied and enjoyable than one might imagine, and their inventive approach makes for intriguing listening. These guys are taking prog in a very different direction indeed.