The Smashing Skull Sessions

The Smashing Skull Sessions is a podcast, interview and review website, set up to showcase and support the underground rock and metal scenes. Our goal is to promote artists and bands from right across the globe, giving them another voice and another forum in which to get their music out to a greater audience. We also have a new review series, The Review Room, which is another unique way of getting bands and artists some extra coverage and promotion

OV – 22:23:12:22

Wednesday, July 5th, 2023 at 4:00 AM by Pat O' #gothic #rock #prog rock #review #psychedelic #post-rock #post-metal #post-black #post rock #podcast #musicreviews #musicreview #music #blackgaze

So, this review of OV, from Mainz, Germany begins with me trying to decipher the EP title, 22:23:12:22. My immediate conclusion is that it’s a date and time which must be of deep relevance and significance to the man behind this project, Kevin Hilsdorf. And then again, I could be country mile off target! What I am certain of however, is that any music lover who enjoys powerful, heavy hitting post rock/metal that spirals and helixes through a myriad of melody and mystery will adore this release.

When the world starts breathing is the opener, and it immediately sucks you in beneath a torrent of lush leaden soundscapes and soaring lead guitars that corkscrew though those thundering percussions and a heavyset rhythm section. Its impact is huge and it has you on the edge of your seat right from the off.

And the universe raged eternally follows with a similar wall of fire and fury as the opener did, soaking in those gorgeous, plucked guitars, that are so fondly reminiscent of the great If These Trees Could Talk’s They Speak With Knives. This track has all that explosive power, and all the emotion and elation that Red Forest brought with it, right down to those crushing riffs and those high tempo, pummelling drums. It even transcends into a blast beaten passage, before eventually leading you into a momentary void that houses a catacomb of synths and mirrors that reflect and resound through your senses.

The closer, We found joy and despair, is yet another powerhouse, with more slick lead solos and punishing rhythm guitars. What really keeps these three tracks cemented together is the depth of harmony and euphony that they conjure up. Every track is drenched in melody and magic which erupts and spits out these glorious sonic outbursts, like a volcano that has erupted for the first time in aeons. The sheer power on display here, along with all that impelling force behind it, makes for an EP that must heard to be believed!

If all that wasn’t enough for you to digest in 13 minutes, take a moment to acknowledge the sound quality of this EP also. OV has produced an EP that is crisp, clinical, and fierce, and all in equal measure. The only downside I can find here is that it’s short, but its intent and its all-consuming delivery balances the scales of justice perfectly. Release date is July 7th, so you know the drill by now! Bandcamp is calling!