This is the second demo from "Oniric" from Italy. Described by the band
themselves as a duo that mixes sad chords with melodies and sonorous
elucubrations I did not know what to expect, but I was very pleased with
the results of their work.
To me they play a style of music that is much easier to categorize for what
it is not. It's not metal of any kind, it's not pop music or rap, you get
the idea. Instead, I would summarize their music as avantgarde and much more
related to new age, although it is not completely ethereal and has some parts
that are sung (granted, in their own style).
The first track starts off with a very serene duo of piano and orchestral synth
chords that slowly evolves as instruments are added to the equation. As you can
imagine, this is indeed music that sounds more akin to a soundtrack until it is
joined to the second track which to me has heavy Philip Glass influences at the
beginning.
Midway through the second track is where the voices come in as spoken words in
french right in the front of a semi dark-wave background. Melodies and chords
are for the most part simplistic, but in my opinion they are all molded very
nicely into each song to present a more complex and intelligent sounding unit.
Each song in this demo has it's distinct character so you should not expect a
simple repetition of the same song over and over. It is almost as if each song
was taken from a different period in time with a completely different set of
circumstances and the only thing that links them all is the ethereal and dream
like sense. Very nicely done indeed.
Oniric has made this demo as a free download. I don't know if this will be done
for a limited time or on a permanent basis, but I would strongly suggest you to
go to their website and download it. It's only 4 songs in less than 14 minutes
so if you don't think this is your cup of tea, you can delete the files. I am
open to any kind of music so this not being death or black metal doesn't bother
me one bit. As a matter of fact, for black metal fans this will probably interest
you due to the fact that the music is similar in many instances to intros.
April 18, 2008
By Carlos
8.5 of 10
1. Le Petit Acteur (prelude)