Fire Make Thunder Review Thread

[jono]

Promos are out so the reviews are going to start coming in. Here's the first one i found

thenewreview.net/reviews/o-s-i-fire-make-thunder

[Mebert78]

Thanks for starting a review thread! Not a bad review. 4 out of 5 stars.

One things that bothers me about the album is that it's kinda short. 43 minutes is really short considering that Kevin's last album came out in 2009. That's like 15 minutes worth of music for every year, lol. I would like an album that's a bit more expansive and winding, but I'm sure there are some gems on it nonetheless!

[unalaguna]

I usually find 40-50 minutes for an album is about right, unless the album is very intense or very ambient. I agree that 43 minutes of new material in 3 years is diappointing though, especially when you consider how productive Kevin was around 2003/2004 (OSI, GMH, Ghost Book, MH1).

[vivace]

i had initially felt that 43 minutes was not enough but since then started paying more attention to album lengths and have noticed many classic albums time in at around 45 mins.

i rarely enjoy every song so its not exactly a function of length. There were songs i skipped on blood pretty much every time.

[blinddeafmute]

You can go from jazz to Maiden on a dime yet skipping songs on Blood??? Which ones? Microburst Alert was the only one I used to skip but I really like it now.

[jono]

Yeah 45 min is average for albums I think. But I feel like there could have been more. That review makes it sound like some of the stuff is repetitive so maybe cut time on a couple and write more? I should reserve judgement til I actually hear it at least once though

[jono]

A poster going by the name of The Conductor at www.fiveeightforums.com had this to say:

I'm really digging the album (promo copy). They really nailed their sound down and there are a lot more organic elements. It's nice to hear Kevin play the piano again. Invisible Men does not disappoint and sounds a lot like Disconnected FW with Kev on vocals.

[vivace]

Mar 4, 2012 19:59:07 GMT -5 blinddeafmute said:

You can go from jazz to Maiden on a dime yet skipping songs on Blood??? Which ones? Microburst Alert was the only one I used to skip but I really like it now.

Not on a dime!! hehehe but yea i think i went through a phase where i enjoyed every track on blood except We Come Undone....

[jono]

Another poster at Five Eight, mits5k said this:

My first few spins of this leaves me kind of lukewarm to it, honestly. I imagine that anybody who loves Blood will love this one, but I'm lukewarm to Blood as well. I love the mellower, more ambient songs here, but the heavier stuff doesn't do much for me. Jim's riffs are pretty much exactly what you'd expect and don't really go much of anywhere (though he does whip out a really great lead in one track). But I think the big problem for me is Gavin Harrison. Every single time he throws in a set of arbitrary double bass triplets I die a little inside.

That said, the mellower stuff here is really good, and reminds me more of CK than any other OSI material to date.

This has been my opinion on all of the OSI albums on first listen. Especially after the first disc. The loopy riffs don't do much for me. Luckily they start to fit in after many listens. I also wish there were more leads.

[Mebert78]

Wow, a 9/10 review from Planetmosh.

Link: www.planetmosh.com/osi-fire-make-thunder

“Fire Make Thunder” marks the fourth undertaking for the collaborative duo known as OSI. Formed in 2002 by Jim Matheos (Fates Warning, Arch/Matheos) and Kevin Moore (Chroma Key, former Dream Theater keyboardist), OSI is a long distance partnership, both musicians typically writing and recording alone and sending song ideas back and forth for further elaboration. Written and recorded throughout most of 2011, this latest release once again reflects the eclectic influences of both Matheos and Moore.

It’s pretty damn interesting listening to this collaboration. I find myself drawing images of cruising a long expanse of road on a destination to who knows where or lying on a huge pristine white quilted bed with a set of headphones on losing myself in wherever this album takes me.

Matheos and Moore have indeed managed to mix ambient beats, keys and samples with some great chunky riffs that draw to mind a truly eclectic set of tracks exactly as they say on the tin (or at least as they say from the first paragraph above quoted verbatim from their site)!

Let’s call it chilled out rock, cool metal, whatever you will. There’s sparks of neon, of being placed inside the world of Tron, where we’re not just hearing the sounds of Daft Punk but can also hear the sounds of OSI echoing throughout.

The opening track “Cold Call” and its follow on “Guards” have this chilled ambient feel that still manage to maintain the feeling even when they bring in pristine heavy riffs. The vocals play a big part in this as well though, keeping themselves haunting and distant throughout. I’m even feeling a touch of industrial edge and Nine Inch Nails creeping in throughout.

“Indian Curse” makes me immediately look towards some of the early Radiohead stuff with a very melancholic minor key that I absolutely love to bits. Probably my favourite track on the album.

We get a chance to see OSI mix things up as we move on throughout the album with a great instrumental heavy funk track, “Enemy Prayer”. I have to say I’m not really one for instrumentals at the best of times but there’s an awful lot of shades of light and dark in this one that keeps your interest without over-staying its welcome. Big and progressive for all its less than five-minute length it still brings us back into that chill out zone in places.

The second half of the album continues with a wonderful chilled out vibe through the enigmatic “Wind Won’t Howl” into the quirky “Big Chief II” that once again pulls in some great guitar work sitting alongside the soft vocals and electronica before descending into the trance like mellowness of “For Nothing”.

For the final track I get the feeling OSI threw just about everything in their repertoire together to make almost ten minutes of ambient, chilled out, cool rock in the form of the grandiose and much layered “Invisible Men”. The track absolutely flies by and sadly the ten minutes are over along with the end of the album before you know it.

This album truly is a chilled out piece of rock indeed. Highly recommended for long lazy days by the pool, cruising on the lonely highway or just allowing yourself to stop, take a deep breath and sink into your own little world.

“Fire Make Thunder” will be available from March 27th via Metal Blade Records

Rating: 9/10

[Mebert78]

New review by WNCT (Eyewitness News 9)

Link: www2.wnct.com/blogs/reel-reviews/2012/mar/13/osis-fourth-lp-one-2012s-best-year-ar-2032177/

Good morning everyone. I hope your day is off to a great start this morning. Provided the warmer temperatures stick through the rest of the week, the rest of this week is going to be a good one. What's more, it gives hope that the warmer weather will be here to stay for a while. And more warm weather means more chance to roll down your window, feel that warm air, and listen to some good music. Speaking of good music, this morning in Reel Reviews, we've got a look at some great new music for all the prog-rock fans out there. It's the fourth full length studio release from prog-rock supergroup, OSI, "Fire Make Thunder." It's got a familiar feel from its predecessors. But the sound has definitely changed on this record. So without further ado, I offer to you in this morning's edition of Reel Reviews, OSI's newest record, "Fire Make Thunder."

The best comes to those who wait. Who hasn't heard, spoken, or written that old adage? Well, in the case of prog-rock supergroup OSI (Office of Strategic Influence), the best--so far--has come. The band--Kevin Moore (Chroma Key/ex-Dream Theater), Jim Matheos (Fates Warning), and Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree)--has rewarded fans who have waited since the release of its 2009 release, "Blood." Simply put, the band's fourth full length studio effort, "Fire Make Thunder" will be making fire and thunder of its own among fans once it drops.

"Fire Make Thunder" is without a doubt a work of genius. It is collectively some of the band's best work to date. The album starts off soft, with "Cold Call" and ends just as soft with the eery final tones of the album's closer, "Invisible Men." In between these two tracks is a collection of works that make for an album that real prog-rock fans will love. "Fire Make Thunder" opens eerily, with an announcer speaking about an emergency of some type. That's overlaid by the electronics and keyboards that fans have come to know from OSI. That opening leads into a solid, heavier sound that doesn't let up until the album's third song, "Indian Curse."

Lyrically speaking, Indian Curse" comes across almost as a history lesson of sorts. The lyrics seem to speak of the journey of the Native Americans, including their eventual forced removal of their people from their land. The accompanying music would seem to enforce that theme, too, as it has a rather subdued feel. It isn't the only interesting change of sound for OSI this time out. The bittersweet sound of the album's penultimate song, "For Nothing" is painful, yet somehow something so beautiful. Maybe it's the strains of the piano in the background that really help set the mood. Regardless, it's definitely one of the album's standout tracks. The full-on instrumental "Enemy Prayer" is another of the album's real standout songs. It's one more piece of evidence that a rock song doesn't always have to have lyrics to be a great song.

"Fire Make Thunder" has far more great pieces that could be dissected. But to do that would require far more time than would be needed to properly do service for this album. So suffice to say that whether for any of the pieces mentioned here or the others not mentioned, OSI has crafted in its new full length studio release, "Fire Make Thunder", not only another great album, but perhaps its best album to date. Fans who want more information on the band or its new album can follow the band online at www.osiband.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/OSI/203893353038854?sk=wall and on Twitter at twitter.com/osi_band.

[vivace]

wow. Great review. This one sounds just about right too.

[Mebert78]

Wow, harsh review from Metal Ireland.

Link: www.metalireland.com/2012/03/11/osi-fire-make-thunder/

How is it that great musicians can wind up making such balls music?

Jim Matheos, from Fates Warning and Arch/Matheos, and Kevin Moore, formerly of Dream Theater - you stand accused.

They’re the duo known as OSI, a sort of prog-metal studio project using samples instead of good ideas and wandering, directionless thoughts as vocals.

Given the personnel, it’s really quite odd how boring this is. Only at the start of this year Jim Matheos’ album with Fates Warning singer John Arch was blowing speakers as well as minds. ‘Sympathetic Resonance’ was full to the brim of great licks, ultra-cool vocals and a real sense of adventure.

I dont know whether these are Jim’s cast off riffs or what, but there’s nothing even resembling a worthwhile piece of music on here. It’s alarming.

And as for Kevin Moore, this is the guy who lent amazing keyboards to ‘Images & Words’ and ‘Awake’ - and all that’s on this album is a pisspoor assembly of vaguely dub beats done in a hackneyed stomping metal style. The lack of creativity is petrifying.

There’s nothing more to say about this dull as dishwater release. It’s an album full of boring, meaningless elevator-style metal muzak with little motive force and less ingenuity. If this had have come out fifteen years ago it would have sounded past-it, with its little transistor radio sounding beats and it’s uncomfortable, unconfident vocals.

It’s complete toss, and comes across on every listen as exactly what it is - the product of musicians with far too much time on their hands. It’s the audio equivalent of a dressing gown and a cup of Horlicks.

Buy the Arch/Matheos album instead. It’s killer.

1.4 / 5 - Earl Grey ::: 11/03/12

[vivace]

lol...Well this reviewer 'Earl Grey' (i assume its a he) didnt mention any of the previous OSI material. It sounds like he is comparing it to Arch/Matheos and Awake and I&W....my guess is that Earl Grey likes his tea hot and his music LOUD ;D

[Niop]

In my opinion, that's not a review. That's simple bashing.
Of course, a review is always subjective - but the author should at least try to be as objective as possible and not fire as much shattering phrases as possible.
I don't understand how something like that could be published as "review".
But ok, that's only my opinion and I'm looking forward to the album.
I'm stunned by the previews so far.

Niop

[blinddeafmute]

Who knew Earl Grey would work in lieu of Ipecac.

[jono]

Heh that was amusing. You can easily tell the folks who go into OSI expecting a prog supergroup sound like Spocks Beard or Transatlantic. This was especially bad with the first 2 albums because they had Portnoy drumming. I was expecting the same thing. I think that if the first album didn't start the way it does I wouldn't have been eased into Kev's style like I was. Plus the genre labels OSI is given are so misleading. It really isn't metal and is not super prog. At least by today's standards. Kev's solo stuff even gets labelled prog and it isn't.

The bad reviews at amazon are hilarious. One dude said Neal Morse was in the band and another said Dereck Sherinian was the keyboardist lol...

[blinddeafmute]

Not having your expectations met is one thing. Spewing vitriol is something else. Is it really necessary?

[Mebert78]

Here's a glowing review by Prog Rock Music Talk!

Link: www.progrockmusictalk.com/2012/03/review-osi-fire-make-thunder.html

It seems these days that metal musicians collaborate with players from other bands quite a bit. Personally, I have mixed feelings when these collaborations happen. Sure, they can make some great music, but for some reason I tend to prefer what said players do with their main bands as opposed to their cross–band work. OSI is an exception to that.

Started in 2002 by Fates Warning Guitarist Jim Matheos and former Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore, OSI has remained a long–distance cooperative between the two. Several guest musicians have been brought in for each of their records, such as drummers Mike Portnoy and Gavin Harrison, bassists Sean Malone and Joey Vera, and vocalists Tim Bowness and Mikael Åkerfeldt. This most recent effort, their fourth, sees Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) returning on drums, with Moore taking care of lyrics and main vocals. Matheos and Moore worked together on all other aspects of the music.

As I said earlier, I typically listen to these kinds of albums once or twice and then return to their normal band’s material. But Fire Make Thunder isn’t an album to do that to; sure, it sounds very much like what you’d imagine this trio would create, but all three players are known for creating some great music on their own. And here, put together, they don’t disappoint.

The opening track “Cold Call” and the follow–up “Guards” have a sort of sinister tone to it, but aren’t very aggressive tracks. “Indian Curse” is completely void of drums and percussion of any sort, and sounds rather bleak. It’s a good song, but don’t listen to it on a dark, rainy day in March. “Enemy Prayer” is much more metallic than its predecessors on the album, sounding a bit closer to what these two wrote in their main projects. It’s also an instrumental track, a key component of a prog metal record. “Big Chief II” continues the picked up the tempo a bit, and the guitars sound a bit angrier. But the vocals don’t really get that intense, lending a sense of control to the turmoil. “Invisible Men” clocks in at just under ten minutes long, so these two haven’t lost their touch when it comes to lengthy songs either.

Thinking of something to compare this album to was difficult at first, but then it hit me. This album is like a horror movie that uses menace to scare, playing on the viewer’s mind, rather than excessive gore or monsters leaping suddenly out of nowhere. Granted, this music isn’t scary, but one can’t help but notice its dark tone. The ambience it captures is one of many things that make this album great. The album artwork is another–I like how the cover kind of reflects the primitive nature of the title, Fire Make Thunder.

If the only kind of Prog Metal you’re into is twenty–minute songs with six trillion notes in them, this album won’t interest you in the slightest. None of these songs get even close to becoming exercises in technical wizardry. They are simply well written songs. Each one sounds unique enough that they don’t blend together. They’re short enough to keep just about any listener’s attention for the entire songs’ duration, and there’s enough creativity in each one to ensure that. Moore and Matheos have proved they can write material as well as any prog legend, without having to play more notes than God. This is an album both novices and prog experts will enjoy. Good job, OSI.

5/5 Stars

Key Tracks: Guards, Enemy Prayer, Invisible Men

Daniel Erickson

March 12, 2012

[jono]

Mar 15, 2012 9:05:12 GMT -5 blinddeafmute said:

Not having your expectations met is one thing. Spewing vitriol is something else. Is it really necessary?

Yeah, it was very easy to not take that review seriously at all.

March 26th isn't coming fast enough!