Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Born of Osiris - A Higher Place (2009)
A Higher Place... Definitely one of the best metal album titles I've ever seen. Why? Because it indeed takes you to a higher place! This is an album that would really help the band grow in higher fame.
Born of Osiris has been kept alive throughout their discography by Cameron Losch on drums, Ronnie Canizaro on lead vocals, and Joe Buras on keyboards/vocals. After going through so many incarnations and their respective styles, Diminished (post-hardcore), Your Heart Engraved (post-hardcore/deathcore), Rosecrance (deathcore), and the first Born of Osiris album The New Reign (progressive deathcore), A Higher Place is the true start of the band's progressive metalcore/technical deathcore journey.
The band picks up where they left off from the end of The New Reign in this album's intro, "Rebirth", which has a dark Egyptian-like theme. The first real song, "Elimination" explodes in with wild heavy riffing similar to Chimaira before the melodic passage kicks in. That song is fun to listen to, despite the song being just a measly two minutes long and has interesting riffs and vocal patterns followed by a fresh breakdown. "The Accountable" is pretty decent, with a solo at the 45-second mark that sounds suitable for any album released by Sumerian Records. It is another very short track, yet has many time signature changes, plus some technical riffing.
"Now Arise" has some perfect heavy riffs, along with a black metal-like section with evil-sounding synths and blast beats, which makes the song another fun one to listen to, and similar to The Faceless while straying away from that kind of sound. "Live Like I'm Real" is another technical deathcore highlight with great impact in the keyboard section. "Starved" has some of the best, most perfect metal tendencies. The songwriting is brilliant, along with the lyrics about the band members' lives and destiny that really let the track hit hard. "Exist" is a really heavy song with catchy melodies before ending with a heavy breakdown. This is another easy song to digest, which is something good about its over 2-minute length. It really shows how much the songwriting has progressed. "Put to Rest" starts heavily with the chaotic riffing. The heaviness continues to stay while building up with fun, enjoyable grooves. There's also a riff influenced by Sikth and a melodic slow part while Ronnie and Joe take turns screaming the song title.
The next song, "A Descent" starts with a melodic riff inspired by Misery Signals while still sounding fresh. Then there are a lot of time signature changes and breakdowns, with many different styles of metal in one awesome sound! But before we can get to the "Ascent", the title track kicks in as probably the most progressive song of the album. Unlike other songs in the album, there aren't any actual breakdowns but it has really groovy riffs and one of the most best song endings I've ever heard in my life. "An Ascent" is probably the most melodic of the bunch, with really addictive melodies. In an attempt to plunge into technical metalcore, "Thrive" has some Meshuggah-like polyrhythms and elegant background soloing. "Faces of Death" is in the right place as the album's ending track, with mid-paced riffing throughout.
So what have we learned about this album? Well, Joe has much better and more frequent screaming vocals then in The New Reign, unleashing a perfect combination with Ronnie's growls. The metal keyboards really fit the album perfectly. The songwriting has just turned to a new improved direction. However, some tracks aren't easy to get used to with lack of power, but they're still top notch and are only bad in comparison with the better songs. Yeah, those few tracks have the beat and screaming combo a little off. But still, A Higher Place is one of the most original albums I've heard with great technical songwriting with the short album length. While some things might feel missing, at least the band had more to learn for their next album....
Favorites: "Now Arise", "Live Like I'm Real", "Exist", "Put to Rest"