Track Listing

1. Ov

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #260826 in Music
• Released on: 2005-06-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Album Description
This Washington, DC duo consists of underground cult guitar hero Mik Barr (CROMTECH) and drummer Joshua Barr (ABCs, SUPERSYSTEM). This record is one long track and takes a new tack for the band, repetition. Along with the obvious metal influences, some new elements arise here including, but not limited to, minimalism and Middle Eastern music. Brutal prog.

Customer Reviews

a postmodern metal achievement
Someone had to eventually do it: take the basic format of minimalist composition and completely recontextualize it in an alien environment: loud rock music. On this album, former Crom Tech avant-thrashers Orthrelm do the impossible. They make an album that manages to be completely abstract and minimalist in composition (absolutely no memorable melody here folks, only repetition and angular guitar shredding), yet they accomplish this perverse form of minimalism within the pre-existing template of a hardcore/metal band.

Its seemingly contradictory, playing minimalism in a style that is known for melody and/or emotional intensity, but OV pulls it off which is why this is so remarkable. The album avoids being painfully academic like a lot of avant-garde music, yet at the same time it is completely orignial and innovative. One should note that this album is purely conceptual, its not one that you're going to listen to all the time and it will hardly reward the listener emotionaly. It is however something truly innovative and amazing. It is exhaustingly postmodern, playing avant music in a familar style. This will probably be the first and only example populist minimalism, and for that it should be praised.

Insane brilliance.
When I first listened to this album, I was expecting to be bored in a few minutes. Instead, I listened to the entire thing straight through - it's that compelling.

Orthrelm take all the sound and fury of metal and couple it to a highly repetitive, minimalist aesthetic somewhat reminiscent of Philip Glass or Steve Reich's classical music. This is a fairly unique concept - I, for one, have never heard anything much like this album. It's wildly different from slow-building, strung-out 'stoner rock' like Earth or Sunn O))), as it moves suddenly between series of repeated, intense figures (call them riffs, I guess) that are played at blinding speed. Though a single riff can repeat for a while - up to six or seven minutes - it hardly ever gets old: each is complex enough to withstand that sort of repetition. Of course, there is slight variation in the way each riff is played, as well.

The guitar and drumming is insane - its speed and precision over such an extended period is unbelievable.

This album is certainly not for everyone. However, I wouldn't say you have to be a metal fan to appreciate it (my own knowledge of metal is quite limited). It's good to have some background in experimental or minimalist music, though - a tolerance for dissonance and a willingness to listen closely.

Most annoying song ever. I LOVE IT!
1st time I heard it, I'm thinkin "Holy **** that's INSANE!" it keeps going and going and going. Minimalist is right, a shredtastic cacophony of seemingly endless mindwasting insanity. I love musical experimentation like this, and I think my neighbors love it even more than I do. Don't waste another second, BUY BUY BUY and spread the love!
|m|