Reviews list for Born of Osiris - Soul Sphere (2015)

Every new album by Born of Osiris is a new experimentation. Their first release, the EP The New Reign, was one of the first well-known Sumerian Records releases and helped bring both the band and Sumerian to prominence. Their first full album, A Higher Place, is one of their most interesting albums with more experimentation in rhythm and chord progressions. The Discovery toned down the experimentation but their songwriting is more refined with higher amount of lead playing. Tomorrow We Die Alive disappointed most Born of Osiris fans with less technical guitar work and over-emphasized keyboards. I still liked that one as much as the other albums.

Soul Sphere, their fourth album (fifth if including The New Reign), is not exactly A Higher Place 2.0, but it does take you back to their beloved old aspects while keeping their new tendencies. That's enough to make perhaps the band's most satisfying well-rounded album yet! Especially in their strong diversity, with every song having at least several memorable moments and more differentiated characteristics.

"The Other Half of Me" starts the album on a spooky note with its suspenseful futuristic electronic intro, before the epic chaotic song itself. The next track "Throw Me in the Jungle" has some of the most varying vocal styles in a Born of Osiris song; lows, mids, highs, cleans, you name it. However, the harsh/clean dueling chorus is a little flat and the lyrics can be a bit confusing, but that doesn't affect the rest of the album. "Free Fall" continues the harsh/clean dueling but this time lets the song stay in purely wild greatness. "Illuminate" has more of the harsh/clean vocal power in the chorus.

"The Sleeping and the Dead" foreshadows the band returning to the Higher Place era later on. "Tidebinder" has quite the mid-tempo headbanging groove along with oriental-influenced synths. "Resilience" has the band's trademark arpeggio riffing. The blast beats in "Goddess of the Dawn" trace back to the more brutal sound of The New Reign.

"The Louder the Sound, the More We All Believe" begins with an EDM-inspired intro, and despite the slightly cringe-worthy chorus, the loudness continues to shine, and the louder the sound, the more I believe in this song being amazing. "Warlords" does the melodic chorus as well, but makes a surprising change of pace and tone with screaming vocals going from one catchy line to another before the excellent harsh/clean interplay. "River of Time" once again starts with spooky electronica before the rest of the song descends into chaos. "The Composer" is probably the most monstrous yet well-composed song in the album. Pure djent-core with keyboard-orchestral background before ending in a straight-forward electronic-glitch outro. Pretty confusing, but an effective ending!

With Soul Sphere, Born of Osiris made a true cohesive return to the strong aspects of their older form. Not a complete imitation, but a bursting evolution! This is some of the band's most complete material with all the drums, guitars, keyboards, and vocals in a friendly interplaying battle. A memorable album with engaging moments that help put the band safely back in the map of their stylistic creation....

Favorites: "The Other Half of Me", "Free Fall", "The Louder the Sound, the More We All Believe", "The Composer"