Osiah – Kingdom of Lies (Review)

This is the second album from Osiah, a deathcore band from the UK.

Deathcore is a genre that is easy to get wrong. Far too many deathcore bands simply go through the motions of producing music, however passionately, but without ending up with anything that has any sort of real replay value. When done well, however, it can be exciting, energising, and positively destroy everything around it. As you may have guessed, Osiah play deathcore very well indeed.

Like the best deathcore, this is an album that’s all about heaviness, and the violence and aggression that comes along with it. Sickeningly heavy guitars, monstrous vocals, and songs that get you moving even when you don’t want to? This is what we want, and this is what we get.

A good feature of this album is that it’s rooted in real extremity, rather than the more commercial side of the style. Kingdom of Lies sounds outright nasty in places, made even more so due to the production values, (which are not overly polished), and the ferocious singer. The songs are vicious and cruel. There’s absolutely no niceness here, or any pretence of making things more accessible for a wider audience beyond deathcore enthusiasts.

The singer is better than most too, with a wide range of harsh vocalisation used to complement the brutal music. He sounds savage and dangerous, in the best of ways. He’s a real asset to the band’s music, providing a monstrous focus for the hyper-aggressive songs.

While I very much doubt it will do much to convice the style’s detractors, Kingdom of Lies is a cut above most deathcore albums, and one that I’m only too happy to recommend. Brutal and intense, I can only imagine how crushing this is live.

Very highly recommended.