Review: One Morning Left – 'Metalcore Superstars'

You wake up, and you’ve got one morning left… you fancy something a bit different musically?

When “Metalcore Superstars” was offered for review I looked up the video for “You’re Dead! Let’s Disco”, and I was having some of that, and pronto. If you want a taster of what I mean check out the crazy video above. If it was a change I was after, there was no one up to the job more than One Morning Left. I can only class this as sheer chaotic genius.

Reviewers regularly comment on the amount of genres and sub genres out there. It kind of gets my goat, and half of this seems to be made up by an idiot behind a desk, so step forward this idiot behind the desk and I hearby dub One Morning Left as

“Obscure, progressive, hardcore, nintendo metal”

I really hope this sticks!

Jokes aside, you could not possibly pigeonhole One Morning Left, that would be an impossible task. Their sound is vast and covers all manner of styles, styles that no sane person would ever clump together… but I fear there is no sanity within the ranks of this band.

The album kicks off with “OML_KVLT” and all starts relatively smoothly… some nice synth, harmonies, and a little toe-tapper, but it is just like the devil offering you the best deal in the world for your soul… it soon becomes dark, abrasive, and not what your innocent little ears had in mind. It sets the bar though, as you are in for plenty more of this. It is a brutal composition that literally borders on an outright classic from the very first play.

“Heavy Metal Finland”(what a title) is next, and here comes Nintendo, but you have never heard it like this before, I can promise you. The ferocity slows down only for a moment to give you a seriously catchy “Amity” style chorus… another belter.

“Derailed” starts as if it is one of those whale music tapes for pregnant women, but when it drops, said pregnant woman would have given birth within seconds, the baby, still covered in blood and embryonic fluids, would be banging it’s head, with horns in the air. This takes us to the video above, and yes there is some disco in there, morphed with a demon and, of all things, a recorder (my music lessons at school with this instrument never sounded anything like this. If they had I would have paid more attention). Again, this is a collection of things that have no damned right to be together but they are and One Morning Left have managed to pull it off!

“The Recipe” sticks pretty much to the heavier end of the scale, and with chants like “An eye for an eye, innocence must die” who needs anything more? with “Kings And Queens” we settle for a far more accessible and straight forward number, which really shows how good these guys are musically. When they settle for more than ten seconds you can appreciate the talent involved.

“Fast And Furious 6.66” is just pure evil personified. One Morning Left have managed to capture the devil on this track. I am sitting here saying ‘Hail Marys’ and crossing myself, in the hope I make it through the 2.09 minutes with my soul intact. It is fast, it is furious, and it is also brilliant. “Devil’s Nest” does that lulling in thing again… all nice and gentle, a lovely little classic rock riff then BANG!… chaos ensues.

The title track is more of the same. Crazy, yet fun, from start to finish. At this point, I am desperate to see this band live, it must be a sight to behold. The intro to “Eternity” will have you scratching your head wondering how they could fit a Greek restaurant band onto a metal album, but as soon as we leave that behind you find one of the best tracks on the album. Double tap heaven with growling and harmonic vocals throughout.

The whole thing wraps up with “Sticks And Stones”, the only song over the five minute mark. It starts reminiscent of LostProphets, more on the accessible side of the tracks here, but it has enough edge to keep the cave trolls happy.

I loved this album, my mind is still reeling and asking “why?”, but I did. It put a huge smile on my face, it had me rocking out, it had me screaming, and it had me hitting the repeat button again, and again. it is the most fun I have had reviewing an album in… well… in forever. These guys bring something new to the table, and I will be following them closely from now on… and so should you.

Review: Ritchie Birnie

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