OTTTO - Life is a Game
It takes special circumstances to get me to notice a new band comprised of youngsters. I'm always making the case that there is plenty of quality new stuff out there to assimilate, but the sad truth is that I'm woefully out of touch with the current generation. Despite my best efforts, I turn into a stodgy sumbitch when faced with "modern" metal. Everyone sounds the same to my weather-battered ears. Enter OTTTO, a teenaged trio peddling skateboard thrash that doesn't mirror peers. If anything, these kids look to the 90's for inspiration. They offer a refreshing sound against a swell of pitch-shifted growls and detuned riffs. I don't mean they embrace those elements; I'm saying those elements are popular, and OTTTO doesn't rely on that shit.
Apparently, their line-up features Tye Trujillo (son of Rob) on bass. I'm sure that helps with press relations, but OTTTO doesn't need the rub. This is fun, kinetic alternative metal...okay, hold the phone. I don't actually know how to classify these songs. Now that I'm mulling it over, "skateboard thrash" would probably be perceived as an affront. All you need to know is that I've listened to Life is a Game - the debut long player - exactly twice in a 24-hour period and felt jostled to work OTTTO into this column. Can I get away with calling this a column? Because I just did.
And so the self-defeating task of genre codification continues with Lunar Aurora, a German black metal collective that expired a decade ago. The band started as a two-piece in 1994. There are several full-length albums under this epigraph, but I'm choosing to spotlight 2012's Hoagascht. It was the last of Lunar Aurora's recorded output, and while I haven't spent time with all of their material, I feel safe calling it their magnum opus. With past records, you could hear the raw talent on display, but this is where their ideas came into focus. Electronic components seep into a stark black metal framework, accentuating melodic riffs and shaping unique compositions that, again, I struggle to compartmentalize into brackets that are easy to identify.
For the sake of brevity, let's go with atmospheric black metal. Comparisons? Seemingly desultory noises from nature (the rustling of branches, the intermittent hooting of an owl) remind me of Grima, although the music of Lunar Aurora tends to stand on its own. To wit, there are passages that could be mistaken for reggae. Evil, badass reggae. It's not entirely relevant, but I've fallen asleep listening to Hoagascht. It's super chill. Contrariwise, the opening riff to "Wedaleichtn" is exceptionally heavy. Seek it out! You'll be headbanging in your sleep before you know it.
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