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Oddhums - The Inception EP

  • Written by  Marky Edison

Oddhums, I have no idea what it means or how to pronounce it but I will heartily (and awkwardly) recommend it. They formed earlier this year in Jaen, Spain and The Inception is their first release. They've been compared to Fudge Tunnel and sound like a heavy metal version of Shellac.

The bass is so thick and full that you can practically feel the downtuned strings flapping beneath Will’s fingers.The guitar is equally downtuned, but not played in a typical metal fashion. There are post-rock, noise, post-punk, and shoegaze influences on Freg’s playing as well as doom, death and desert rock. The Inception is covered in drones, atonal chords, and screeching Sonic Youth flourishes.

Keke’s drums are no less remarkable. He often takes the Peter Gabriel route eschewing cymbals only to reintroduce them at a vital moment. His pounding toms are equal part Led Zeppelin, Joy Division and PJ Harvey in style and with the hard rock tone you would expect from Bob Rock’s polished productions.

Will’s vocals are deeply submerged in the mix so that his cries are another instrument rather than the focal point of the tunes. There’s a dreampop vibe off them but with a distinctly doomy delivery; doompop?

The ominous intro of ‘Dimgaze’ gives you some idea of what you're in for and the arrival of Will's bass, like the footsteps of a titan, lets you know that Oddhums are different from other metal bands. There are shades of Killing Joke on ‘Wounds’ and it could be a track from Nirvana’s Bleach played at half speed.

The dissonant stabbing chords of ‘Big Brave’ are suggestive of Steve Albini producing Meshuggah. It also has the closest thing to the chorus on the EP. The slow build of the verse is unsettling and the crushing chorus feels like it will never come.

Oddhums are in the right place with Inverse Records. It’s a label that is proving itself to be consistently open to experimental metal acts of the sort that would otherwise find it hard to find an audience. It is remarkable also that in this music-saturated world, Oddhums have managed to come up with something unique.

The Inception EP is available via Amazon & iTunes.

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