THE SIMULATION

Back in 2011, Born of Osiris performed an admirable feat: they brought a heightened sense of futurism and adventure to a then- stagnant genre. The Discovery was an incredibly welcome breath of fresh air that, unfortunately, will always cast a shadow over the band's subsequent work because of its ambition. Still, they certainly keep trying and trying to recapture the spark that The Discovery gave off and Tomorrow We Die Alive regrettably lost. After all, the concept of taking deathcore into more experimental and adventurous avenues is something that I'll always be behind. By all means, let's take the genre somewhere that forces it outside of its comfort zone! And besides, many of these substantially "djentier" deathcore and modern metalcore bands have usually been the ones who continue to push the boundaries, stemming from artists such as After the Burial and Veil of Maya. Well, luckily, Born of Osiris' new effort The Simulation sees them back in action with their best album since The Discovery. Granted, there's really no more death metal in there. For that matter, many of the songs ride a low groove that sees them moving even further into djent territory than before. So why does The Simulation work so well?

Because it has a runtime of only 25 minutes, which means it has less time to pack in all of its exciting riffs and experimentations before quickly getting the hell out. As such, you're greeted by enough twists and turns to make your head spin. There are a few quiet moments of atmosphere throughout, such as the frantic little symphonic intro of "Disconnectome" or the entirely of interlude "Recursion," but for the most part, these moments of space and contemplation are constantly butting heads with the meaty riffs underneath. By far, the best section to feature this conflict comes from the outro of "Silence of the Echo," whose melodic solo lends the heavy chugs and power chords with a beautifully spacy counterpoint. It actually reminds me of The Faceless' Planetary Duality days, and that's not the only moment that made me think of that album. Every time "Disconnectome" breaks into a melodic solo or goes through a hyper-fast blastbeat section, it really does sound reminiscent of the sci-fi tech-death from that era of The Faceless.

Thankfully, Born of Osiris don't forget their roots on The Simulation, paying plenty of homage to what made them a household name in deathcore while still continuing to experiment with their formula. If I had to pick out the best change this time around, it's that the guitar leads are more fluid than ever. "Analogs in a Cell," "Silence the Echo," "Disconnectome," and "Cycles of Tragedy" are all imbued with fantastic soloing that both technically impresses and constantly shifts between neo-classical and jazz fusion stylings. Also, the variety in the drumming is really impressive from time to time; "Disconnectome" in particular (yes, I know I'm bringing up this song a lot) features a ridiculous amount of tempo shifts, and they're all surprisingly tasteful and natural despite how abrupt they are. The Simulation isn't a perfect album - the slower tempos can become pretty one-note, and the short runtime obviously means some people will want a bit more meat - but it's definitely the most solid album the band have put out since their initial heyday. It's a really fun little adventure that - much like Reign in Blood - is very easy to replay again and again because of its lean length and addictive riffing.