Album Review: Steam – Osiris (Self Released)

Osiris is Steam’s debut full-length: a more coherent release and closer to a concept album in terms of feelings, musical vibe and motion, when compared to their previous EP, Warp. Osiris deals with the human race and space, conveying a message that is very universal. It will be released on December 11th 2018.

What is less universal is Steam’s take on technical death metal. Osiris is packed full of complex riffs and time changes that pulls the mind in several different directions. From the opening assault of Do Not Look Back to the effects that FFY brings in. The former has plenty of meat in the groove but the clean vocals leave a lot to be desired. The latter is a bit on the head-scratching side of things.

There’s a bit of conflict throughout Osiris that makes it a little less interesting to listen too. The clean vocals really seem at odds with the chunky heaviness. The dirty, more growly style is far better but it’s the bland singing that dominates far too much and ends up distracting from the complexities of the music.

That being said, Steam don’t completely crash and burn. They keep things consistent throughout the nine tracks and the likes of Let Them Rise with its breakdown, Swarm with its chubby stop-start rhythm and The Light Reaper’s raging powerhouse of death metal really deliver crunchy, bone-breaking heaviness. The latter is probably the best track on the album.

It’s only with The Pioneer that the ‘space’ element of Steam’s message really makes itself noticed. The movie like effects convey a feeling of floating in space and seeing wonders beyond imagination. Although Black Star also has a feeling of weightlessness with some melody that sits quite nicely on the mind.

Steam nail the technical death metal side far better then they do the more melody-driven stuff and when they try to blend the two they don’t quite cut it.

Steam – Osiris Full Track Listing:

1. Do Not Look Back
2. Let Them Rise
3. Swarm
4. FFY
5. The Light Reaper
6. The Pioneer
7. Black Star
8. Flyby Anomaly
9. Water

You can order the album via Steam’s website here and earlier releases on Bandcamp here. Find out more by checking out Steam’s Facebook Page, Instagram and YouTube.