review: Oracle

Oracle

Hindsight 2020

Pavement Entertainment

12 June 2020

Oracle (Alabama, U.S.) brings forward a little bit more of a fun take than just the heaviness and aggressive vocals of the usual groove sound. It is not a big problem to say this is basically a groove style, but it is also more than groove. What they do is more fun than standard groove and possibly more interesting to a variety of heavy rock audiences. Their mix of U.S. heaviness and a European sense of melody comes to the forefront after just a few songs.

Usually, groove bands love shout/scream/growl vocals, and loud heaviness, and are perfectly happy to display those two big elements as their bread and butter. This is where Oracle offers a bit more. For instance, it is a subtle thing that they do, but they do add some melodies to their songs. This is not a melodic death metal band per se, but they use some of those ideas for their own. At those times, the metal riffs (not just the heavy grooves) come out more sharply, and another angle emerges for seeing the various changes that the band employs for finding more layers. The music is not super melodic, but their use of melody shines a light into how the band makes things more interesting for themselves and the listeners. Another example is the keyboards. It’s not clear if any member of the band plays keyboards or if this sampled sounds or the production/band team adding these sounds, but it results in some smooth passages. Sometimes it seems like it is not keyboards but just fun little sounds in the background.

Probably the best thing about the album is how they keep things interesting by taking U.S. groove into further areas where is there more freedom, not just the heavy and brutal side. The heaviness is there and all, but there are other elements, like melody, keyboards/effects, some singing, and other things, that make the album more than a band grooving away, displaying only anger and heaviness. For instance, “Pandora’s Box” is a bit like a melodic death metal power ballad. At any rate, this album is a kind of combination of groove and melodic death metal (plus other spicy additions), like a U.S.-European hybrid in style.

Hindsight is 2020 by Oracle