Ovenizer: SWM (2015)

I want to first off apologize to the members of Ovenizer, a band which may or may not exist any longer.  I have been absolutely terrible about reviewing stuff lately.  I have had this album for likely a year or so at this point.  I am going to try to get back into things a little bit at a time, work my way back up to posting regularly.

SWM likely stands for "Satan's Washing Machine", based on one of the song titles, which brings up the question, what does Satan put in his washing machine?  Does he have a lot of reds?  Does he have to separate them from his whites?  What about delicates?  For that matter, what is an "Ovenizer"?  What is the deal with this band and household appliances?  Did one of their parents die in a tragic refrigerator accident?

I have reviewed an EP by Ovenizer before, so I thought I kind of knew what to expect, generally something much spacier and ethereal than my usual listening preferences.  I mentioned in that previous review that post-metal is not usually my thing.  I have largely avoided groups like Isis, Neurosis, Tombs, and other such groups because I prefer my metal ultra-aggressive and immediate.  I tend to prefer thrash and death metal genres and the truly hateful black metal.  But every once in awhile, something softer is a nice change of pace.  And that Ovenizer EP appealed to me in the way that Amorphis's later material does.  However, this album is a little bit of a departure from that EP.

This time around, the songs are much more structured, with a lot of the trance-inducing guitar riffs removed.  There are moments that are almost grunge-like, sounding like something Soundgarden might have released in their Sub-Pop days, though with gruffer vocals, or the murkier moments from Alice in Chains.  And there is a lot more doom metal influence as well.  The songs are typically slower, riff-driven compositions with naturally-flowing structures.  One of the typical characteristics of post-metal is its tendency to linger and meander, and Ovenizer did a little of that on the previous EP, but it is not present here.

The fact that Ovenizer is Finnish becomes fairly clear as the album continues.  A lot of Finnish bands tend to be difficult to pigeonhole into one subgenre.  And that is certainly true with a number of songs here.  "Paddling in the Sky" features death metal growls over almost tribal rhythms and crooning vocals, whereas "S.I.B." is a standard-issue melodeath track, and "Watch" is prog-rock that would make Tool proud.

The constantly shifting influences make this an often surprising, interesting listen.  I was definitely taken aback by the significant departure from the EP, but apparently, that is just what this band does best.

Ovenizer: Exhibition of Thoughts (2014)

I have never really gotten into post-metal.  Groups like Tombs and Isis were kind of lost on me.  Maybe I just never really heard the right tracks to check them out more.  I did not want to pick something up without really checking it out particularly with that style of music and I guess a lot of that had to do with the fact that I am much more into the ultra-aggressive forms of metal.  The ethereal, dreamlike structures of post-metal don't speak to me in the same way.

So it was with a little bit of trepidation that I dove into this three-song EP from Finnish post-metal/doom trio Ovenizer.  I figured a three-track release would be easy enough to digest though without growing too painful.  I am actually kind of glad I took the chance.  Maybe I was just a melancholy mood when listening to it, but it really did capture my attention and I found myself enjoying it immensely.

It is true that the three song format was easy to digest, but I found myself wanting more.  The songs each move freely with a significant amount of melody and swirling guitar riffs creating a trance-inducing atmosphere.  The vocals are typically clean, though occasionally a death growl emerges.  The vocals though are just complementary to the music.  The band could have just as easily produced the same atmosphere without any vocals at all.

The songs are typically slow and depressive.  The band strikes a balance between the earlier works of groups like My Dying Bride and Katatonia with the heavier works by Isis.  It is a very dark and doom-laden sound that also presents some extremely strong emotions, in particular during second track "Hypnote", the strongest track on the album.

I really enjoyed this release, but the best thing that I can say about it is that it has opened up my eyes to a genre I did not previously get into.