Liste des groupes Black Avantgardiste Circle Of Ouroborus Streams

If there’s one band that I’d describe as difficult, it’d be Circle of Ouroborus, it’s not that I find the music particularly difficult to listen to; rather it’s a case of too many good moments hampered by so many oddities and unnecessary sections that simply do not work in with the music. Compared to Shores though, this is a massive step up in quality. The band seems to have dropped much of the oddities that made Shores such a taxing and frustrating listen and handle their craft with much greater care. Streams is still whacky as hell punked up black metal, but compared to Shores the song writing feels much more mature and refined.

The punk elements of their sound have become more pronounced with the release of Streams and the black metal elements have become less apparent. The guitars still have a buzz to them and the compositions are overall still simplistic with only a few riffs per song. The black metal blueprint of the bands sound has remained yet when compared to Shores the punk rock elements have become more apparent. This is most apparent in the rhythm section, which, in comparison to a lot of other black metal bands carries with it a highly rhythmic and even bouncy approach to the music. However, the more punk oriented nature of the music means that tracks lack any distinctive melodies and as such it’s quite an unmemorable release which is unfortunate as the band have no doubt improved since Shores.

In comparison to Shores the vocals are much easier to stomach, the vocalist seems much more confident in his craft, and whilst sections are still half spoken, the lyrics are sang with much greater conviction and when mixed with the more punk oriented style, actually compliment the music well. Whilst Shores offered suffered from an identity crisis when the band couldn’t figure out whether they were trying to play black metal, punk, or both, Streams has a much stronger sense of identity and the album is thankfully a lot less off beat. The music is more grounded and the band seems more confident with their work. As a whole, Streams doesn’t feel as disjointed and awkward, as more effort has been put onto the guitars this time round rather than letting the vocals steal the spotlight.

However, the atmospheric department is quite lacking when compared to Shores. Shores, despite its (many) flaws managed to mix depressive and atmospheric black metal with quirky and upbeat punk, it was an odd mixture but one that had moments of grandeur. Streams on the other hand feels like the band is going through the motions of album writing, rather than being spurred on by passion, the album feels forced. It doesn’t seem like Circle of Ouroborus had their hearts in this album during the recording sessions, and obviously whilst the vocals have been improved, the music feels quite tired and lacks the more upbeat nature of Shores. Yes, I appreciate the more focus on the garage punk sections, but there’s no reason for the rest of the music to sound so lackluster. Whilst there are moments of a more traditional take on black metal, with Timbre Noir pt 3 actually being quite depressing and atmospheric, despite only being a short interlude, much of the album seems to have tried to emulate a black atmosphere based solely on the tone of the guitars and the production. There’s no real hatred or malice behind these compositions and the whole album just gives off an aura of laziness and lack of effort. Still, at odd times this languid atmosphere works quite well, especially during moments when the band stops trying to be a black metal band and focus predominantly on the punk side of things. The first track is the definite highlight with a catchy vocal melody and highly rhythmic guitar lines. For much of the album however, the guitars feel lifeless and dull whilst the vocals sound worn out, despite their more determined delivery.

Circle of Ouroborus is a band who I just cannot make my mind up about, whilst there are certainly moments of grandeur, with the first track being the best song on the album, much of the music is bogged down by ideas that are just so lifeless. The guitars just drone on much of the time without any sense of direction, and whilst at times they are highly rhythmic, the rest of the album just feels so bland in comparison. My major problem with this band though is how they seem to rest on the vocals almost like a crutch, and thus more focus was placed on refining the vocals than on the rest of the music, which results in a rather disjointed and vocal heavy sound. Circle of Ouroborus really need to add more work on the music and stop focusing on the vocals as much, overall the band feels like a gimmick in their current incantation as they seem to be trying to get by exclusively on how odd the singing is. My advice, work more on the music and stop focusing on the vocals so much. Vocals aren’t the only instrument you know!