BORN OF OSIRIS | INTERVIEW & LIVE REVIEW
The Globe, Cardiff, Wed 14 Sept
Recovering from a heavy night in Manchester’s Sound Control venue the previous evening, we kept our chat with Born Of Osiris’ [left] Joe Buras and Cameron Losch short and to the point. Topics of discussion included Joe stepping in for Volumes’ Gus Farais, their upcoming tours, shows and their trilogy of artwork alongside Cameron Gray.
Tours were the big topic of the interview – not only the current Sumerian Alliance tour, but their first visit to Spain, a headlining tour in spring 2017 and the upcoming 10 Years In The Black tour (which Joe revealed his excitement for, listing all the bands on the setlist) – but that could easily have been mistaken for the anticipation of seeing old friends. “I See Stars we’ve done a lot of shows with, and After The Burial we have toured with probably more than anyone, so we are all pretty close.”
A huge backdrop of the art from latest album Soul Sphere was erected during the entire night, advertising artist Cameron Gray’s surreal talent. “We first saw Cameron’s artwork years ago through Dead Letter Circus and Circle Of Contempt and asked him if he would work with us. It was super cool because we stayed faithful to him since, and me and Cameron were actually able to collaborate on our latest album art. Having a vision for the artwork and the concept, I sent over some model images for direction and he brought back the three tiers of Soul Sphere which I framed and now have in my home.” Mr Gray’s artwork first featured on the Chicago quintet’s 2011 release, The Discovery.
For those who like their death metal with an unremitting intensity, openers Black Crown Initiate [left] opened the evening and considering it was their first time in Wales, they clearly did not want to disappoint. Hair flew through the air as James Dorton announced the metal bands presence with a cavernous roar over the devilish riffs and solos that both guitarists tore through, leaving drummer Jesse Beahler to wow the crowd with some very impressive hand and foot work. Selves We Cannot Forgive proved to be the diamond in the rough, with Mr Thomas hitting notes that forced clapping hands into the air for recognition.
Second to take to the stage were American five-piece Volumes, ready to indulge in a chunk of offbeat progressive metal. The second American five-piece fired immediately into 91367, with ex-Bury Your Dead vocalist Myke Terry tossing any restraints to the side and losing himself in the moment. When Born Of Osiris first met Volumes back on the Vans Warped Tour in 2014, both bands clicked and Joe became quite the dominant replacement as Volumes frontmen began dropping like flies.
“I’ve been filling in for Gus so far into the tour but he’s back for tomorrow’s show in London after his injury. I also filled in for Michael Barr during Volumes’ November tour with Northlane before recruiting [new vocalist] Myke Terry, so I’ve taken on both sides of their vocal aspects – which was rough for a couple of days but they’re great dudes so it was always a lot of fun.”
New single Feels Good – accompanied by Mr Terry’s natural rabble-rousing manner and speedy appearance from Veil Of Maya’s Lukas Magyar – brought the adrenaline level up to 11, with set closer Wormholes breaking the seal and unleashing the moshpits for the evening. Deathcore-meets-djent dominators and co-headliners Veil Of Maya were highly recommended by members of the audience as highly skilled musicians and within a minute of their first track, Nyu, everyone had been made a believer. An intense technical workshop took place, frequent intermittent breaks ram-packed with decorative and finger-chiselling elements married to Magyar’s scream onslaught. Due to technical issues, the band had to cut the show down by two tracks. Their finale of Mikasa may have been missed but their performance up until that point was uncompromisingly fantastic.
Born Of Osiris’s team were quick in their attempts to repair said equipment and just as the clock sank into the late hours of night, the second headliners marched out to close this night down in their own extreme style.
After so many mixed reactions regarding their past album releases and accusations of dramatic subgenre switches from deathcore to progressive, Joe was asked to elucidate the genre he thinks the band should be categorised under. “Me personally, I would call the band straight-up metal as I’m not a big fan of all these subgenres being thrown around. We were stamped as progressive for a while, however, and we’ll be discussing possibly going back into that. It is a good feeling getting back out there with shows and staying busy, but we’ll be sitting down soon and really talking about where we want to go with the next album.”
The keyboardist/vocalist proved to have quite the spring in his step as he leapt and stamped through a huge song list including The Other Half Of Me, Resilience and Divergency, alongside head honcho Ronnie Canizaro who led their American invasion on with his signature growl and guitarist Lee McKinney’s mix of undeniable ferocity and strong dexterity. Finishing on Machine, the traditional call for an encore lingered but became slightly muted, due to total fatigue from a long day of delectably tainted metal in an array of different forms.
words and photos NATHAN ROACH