In the summer of 2006, a good friend of mine told me about a new band called Oh, Sleeper that Shane Blay, an ex-guitarist for the band Between the Buried and Me started up.  Being a big fan of BTBAM, I was curious to see what their old guitarist was up to.  I went on their Myspace and I was very excited about what I heard, and I immediately ordered their EP, The Armored March.  All of the band members played with ferociousness, technicality, and passion, and they all showed a huge amount of potential.

In 2007, When I Am God, the band’s debut full length came out, and something seemed a little off.  Out of the eleven total tracks, four of them were rerecorded versions of tracks from The Armored March, none of which were quite up to par to the original versions’ standards.  The tracks off When I Am God seemed watered down, and they lacked the edge that the EP had. Sweeps were taken out and were replaced with melody, dissonant chords were taken out, and more clean singing was added. It did not seem to be a simple evolution that the band took; it seemed as though Oh, Sleeper were trying to polish themselves in to a more marketable band.

With this release, it had become apparent that Oh, Sleeper aren’t going to return to their earliest sound.  With Son of the Morning, the band shows that they have become comfortable with using more melody, and they have resorted to a simpler song structure, while still keeping their signature fret board assault intact.  While I thought When I Am God was merely a selling out, of sorts, the album was simply a stepping stone for the progression that they tried to take on this latest album, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your preference.

With that being said, I here announce that this album is a fairly large disappointment.  The band seems to be having an identity crisis.  At moments, it seems like they want to be a Define the Great Line era Underoath with more technicality, then they jump to sounds similar to Thrice’s The Alchemy Index Vol. 2: Water.  They put more melody and choruses in their songwriting, yet they create rhythms and breakdowns that are fairly reminiscent of something you would find on an August Burns Red album. This album is like the Transformers 2 of the metal scene. Both try to appeal to two completely different markets, and they both feel awkward at times because of it. Like the children humor that was littered throughout the movie, the excess of melody and choruses seems to be incorporated to appeal to a newer, younger fanbase, and the new, sparingly used ‘brutal’ approach they took on this album is just like the over the top sexiness from Megan Fox, that was obviously meant for the older fans to drool over. Just as the movie has contradicting intentions, this album has the same tug-o-war going on.

“World Without A Sun” is the shortest song on the album, clocking in at 2:26 minutes. The song starts off with an extremely BTBAM-esque sweeps, which one could expect.  It then jumps a very mathematical choppy rhythm that any metal fan will appreciate, especially following the far too delicate track, “Reveries of Flight”. You could argue that they put these songs side by side to create on effect of contrasting sounds, but unfortunately for this technique to be effective, the leading song (i.e. “Reveries of Flight”) needs to actually be good.  On this track, the Thrice comparisons are never-ending, and it makes you wonder what the band was thinking.

While there are many things wrong with this album, there are still bright spots.  Son of the Morning ends on a high note with the track “The Finisher”.  The song is reminiscent of the good old days. It illustrates the band at its best, with plenty of sweeps, strong vocals, while showcasing their new style of drumming.  While still going strong, the song abruptly ends, which initially seemed strange, but now I see that it was more than just a lack of creativity. It’s a message, saying that the old Oh, Sleeper is dead, and a new, shinier version of the band is here to stay, whether you like it or not.