BLOOD

OSI, a supergroup composed of a merry-go-round of players in the progressive rock/metal world but with a nucleus containing Kevin Moore (Dream Theater, Chroma Key) and Jim Matheos (Fate's Warning), will be releasing their 3rd album, Blood, in the United States on May 17th. We got a chance to preview this record, and have two reviews prepared - one from a longtime fan of OSI and the other from someone who has never heard of the band.

The Longtime Fan's Perspective:

Let me preface this by saying that I've been a fan of OSI since the inception of the band. In fact the driving force behind OSI, Kevin Moore, has been a musical influence of mine since he was playing keyboards for the well-known progressive metal band Dream Theater. In between his work with Dream Theater and the more recent albums with OSI, Kevin seemed to find his own sense of place with a band he called Chroma Key. Mostly piano driven but with touches of electronic music and heavier rock that would foreshadow future work, Chroma Key pulled from a wide variety of influences and expanded the network of musicians with whom Kevin was already familiar.

OSI is an acronym for a government agency (Office of Strategic Influence) that was formed after September 11th, 2001 to promote US causes both here in the United States and abroad. Their first album, Office of Strategic Influence, was noticeably political-minded but the sophomore effort, Free, slipped out of this mindset and concentrated more on the music - creating a mesh of ambient electronica, progressive rock and heavy metal. While this musical "jelly" still has yet to become fully formed, OSI's newest effort, Blood, marks a turning point in the music's development.

OSI is Kevin Moore on keyboards/vocals/processing and Jim Matheos (Fate's Warning) on guitars. Although the previous two albums featured Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) on drums, this time around the spot has been filled by Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) who is certainly no slouch behind the kit. In addition, Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) co-writes and provides guest vocals on the track "Stockholm".

"The Escape Artist" A heavy, driving guitar riff provides the backdrop here over which are layers of keyboards and effects that compliment the simple, haunting vocal lines throughout the song. "You move mysterious, but you speak in gibberish. You can take your memories, I'm off I better be alone, alone.." The song seems to be about someone who always gets in too deep, becomes too emotionally invested in something or someone and then backs out - runs away. Although this is an upbeat song with a fairly quick tempo, it almost makes me sad to listen to - an interesting contrast.

"Terminal" Definitely a remnant of Dead Air for Radios era Chroma Key, "Terminal" is post-processing heavy, loop-based, ambient electronica. Lyrics: "Going, going, going - feet don't fail me", "I'll be gone, before the daylight saving is through".. like "The Escape Artist", "Terminal" is about someone leaving, escaping whatever reality they are currently in. I'm not sure if this is just a dream or something that is actually happening, but the name and lyrics suggest that perhaps this is an airplane terminal.

"False Start" Launches out of the gates with a flood of distortion and quick, tight drum patterns. Where the first two tracks are contemplative, and reflective in nature, "False Start" seems angry, even bitter: "I'm not your medicine". A fairly short track, but I don't think it needs to be any longer. This song is an emotional jerk and I'm still not entirely sure of the meaning, other than the obvious.

"We Come Undone" Everything is unraveling, and if there was before any semblance of control it is quickly disappearing. "The enemy is at the gate.. slowly we come undone..", we revisit a more electronic style of music here, although the musicianship is not to be questioned. I wonder if this is the same character that we've been following so far.. if the guilt felt for running away from someone or something is starting to manifest itself.

"Radiologue" This feels comfortable to me, the OSI that I am already familiar with - an all-encompassing sound with lyrics that seem to float softly out in front in strange patterns and shapes. A driving force, a feeling like heading downhill. "Can't go on.. can't go back", "heard your voice, calling through the noise.. wrote it in the radiologue", "hurt my head, wondering what you said.. so I threw it overboard". Abruptly stopping for an interlude and then exploding into a hugely powerful riff, the music is reflecting more inner chaos and guilt, too many thoughts to fit inside of one head perhaps.

"Be The Hero" There's something wrong, or maybe we are still inside the character's head, as we seemed to be in "Radiologue". The music playing out here seems to be reflecting two sides of a psyche, one much weaker than the other. The adrenaline pumping, can-do-anything part of the mind (Id) comes to the forefront here. Full of energy and bravado and with no sense of loss and/or guilt that we saw previously, "Be the Hero" is all about NOW instead of the whole picture.

"Microburst Alert" Like flying into the middle of a storm, this song is chaotic but has a very natural feel as well. When instruments change and warp mid-phrase it's something that should happen - it just feels right. Like Kevin Moore plucked this discordant mess right out of the universal stream of consciousness and straightened it up a bit. There's a dialogue going on here between a pilot and air traffic control, but this song is more about a feeling than following the dialogue too closely.

"Stockholm" Co-written and voiced by Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt, "Stockholm" feels intensely like an Opeth or Porcupine Tree song - very subdued and well orchestrated. This is not a coincidence, as Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) is closely tied to Opeth's production and songwriting and even collaborated with OSI on a previous album. Mikael wrote the lyrics for this song and it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the album lyrically, but it does present images of suspense and death, which may fit thematically. If we are to believe that our character is torn between two places in life, or good and evil, or bravado and submission, then "Stockholm" may well represent a decision being made; a collapse of one side of the inner struggle of the psyche. Or it could just be track eight.

"Blood" A low, growling bass line and piercing guitar riff layer nicely over the album's ubiquitous electronic effects and Gavin Harrison's well thought out drum patterns. "You helped me to cut our losses.. cause dreaming isn't living.. don't come home". Our character has obviously made a choice, I don't know if it was just running away, or if it ended in death (maybe death and war are just metaphors here), but I'm going to keep listening to the album until I figure it out. Like the other albums in OSI's catalog, "Blood" is fairly short (47 minutes and change), and it always leaves me wanting more.

Overall, I think Blood is the most complete album that OSI has made - I tried to find a common thread in all of the tracks linking them together, but I have no idea if I'm on the right track or not. I don't really give a damn either, though, because the story of this nameless character that is running away from something and has an inner struggle which results in perhaps the wrong side winning is what I hear when I listen to this album. I think that "Terminal" and "Stockholm" could have been left off this CD in order to maintain a better flow between tracks - but as a fan of OSI, I'm going to keep listening and maybe I'll find something I didn't see before. Blood currently holds the top spot in my CD rotation, but there will be a lot of new releases this Summer including albums from Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and Pain of Salvation. We'll see if it's still sitting on top after all of that..

------

A Fresh Ear's Perspective:

False Start: Clocking in as the shortest song on the album, it doesn't let up or falter out of pace. It ends up administering just the right dosage of heavy riffs and pumping momentum. Moore croons casually "You were wrong, you were wrong, it's just another false start," and other words over a nice thick layering of distorted guitar and driving beat. Not much experimentation is taking chance with this one, but it succeeds as a straight up rocker.

Radiologue: Octavated guitar plucking prominates an ominous opening that enters into big smacking beats, buzzing with electronics. The sounds spread as the song progresses, filling out as the chords build and percussive pops and pings ornament and pan the landscape. The track satisfies in a way that belies its six minute length. You are easily lost in its dark grooves and unflagging intensity. Very well crafted and detailed composition.

Microburst Alert: The first two minutes of this one is a hell of a jam for drums(enjoyed here by Porcupine Tree's Gavin Harrison). It's one of those where you fall in and immerse yourself. It later opens up and heavys down, but overall pulls itself off as a very nice instrumental piece.

The album makes a swell choice in starting with "The Escape Artist." After the initial flecking of keys, the track parks itself into a solid strut with commanding guitars demanding your attention. One would usually expect to hear the voice come in with the likes of throaty shouts or growls, attempting to mirror the grit of the other instruments. In OSI we hear a completely opposite approach. No matter how aggressive the sound might be, Kevin Moore keeps a tranquil tone if not a bit discontented. In most cases he sounds as if confiding with you something he truly needs to let out. This results in the songs feeling more personal than if he chose to louden up or abrade his vocals. You end up listening in rather than reaching for ear plugs.

Blood does not beat any horses to death. Each song is its own, which makes repeat listening easy if you felt like revisiting a track of particular interest. There are driven rock tunes, spacey electronica, and a few more undefined examples of what is known as prog rock. Collectively, the album offers a good variety of concoctions from the lab of Kevin Moore and Jim Matheos. Although it is more risky to leave out an obvious stamp on each song(my guess is the easiest way to recognize one of theirs is by the vocals), it is also more daring to do, not to mention it demonstrates a wider range of skill. While I don't normally indulge in music of this genre, several tracks have won me over and continue to pleasure me.

Share this OSI review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to xylopolist
• Report this review (#210697)
• Buy OSI music online with PA partners
• Show all OSI MP3/Stream
• Go to OSI page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Blood page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for OSI related discussions