Oblivion
"The Garden in the Machine" CD
Audiokio
Productions
Genres: rock, emo
Oblivion Rock Music
308 East William
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Sep 26 - Oct 3 2004 |
Oblivion is a band that's a bit hard to peg down. On their
latest album, The Garden in the Machine, the five piece set out
of Ann Arbor seem to do a bit of everything. From straight up rock to
quasi-screamo, with a touch of metal lite here and there, the
band is all over the map. Throw in a couple of softer, more reflective
pieces such as "Ophelia", and "The Language of
Dissent" and it's hard to figure out what's going on. Herein lies
the problem. Oblivion can't seem to make up their mind as to
what they want to do. Throughout their disc it often seems as if
they're trying to cover three different genres per song, which is
great if you can do it - but better bands have tried and failed.
This album definitely takes on a serious tone, which is slightly
refreshing in this day and age of clichés. The band is a tight,
skilled ensemble that plays everything well, and singer Tres Crow
has a great vocal range that seems underused. Unfortunately, the
band's songwriting talents don't match their playing skills - most of
the twelve songs on the disc go on for a bridge or
two longer than they should; the result is a pretty repetitive album.
The Garden in the Machine is a record with a lot of promise
- not so much in the album itself, which even halfway through starts
feeling bland and repetitive, but in the band itself. With some
better songwriting and a little more polish, Oblivion could be
turning out thought-provoking and insightful music. This is definitely
a work in progress, however.
61%
Jack White [Vitals:
12 tracks, distributed by Audiokio
Productions, released 2004] |
