The Science of Dying

Odium are a cool German heavy/thrash/power five-piece that I got into with this year's release As the World Turns Black. That album was surprisingly a grower, featuring a fairly consistent selection of mid- to mid/fast-paced heavy metal of the basic but satisfying variety. It's one of those albums that isn't too heavy, nor too fast, nor too technical, nor exceptional, but the enjoyment accrues throughout its running order until by the last two or three songs you're really smiling and banging your head like a baby with a rattle. The Science of Dying might not be quite as effective as Odium's latest in total effect, but the style is similar, combining melodic thrash riffing with some nice melodies and rough clean singing that bears similarities to fellow Germans Paradox and elder statesmen Grave Digger. Some signs from the band's thrashier past can be glimpsed at times, but the few flavoursome additions and the overall style should please most metal fans.

The Science of Dying bears the odd distinction of being an album that saves its best tracks for the second half, meaning that there is much more to pick fault with in the rather awkward 'Standard Operation Procedure' or the unfortunate chorus of 'Who I Am' than later cookers such as 'War' and 'Princess of Death'. The fault is mostly with the integration of the vocals and the riffing rather than anything hideous in the compositions, so that clunky lines such as "Moderate physical pressure...Security necessitates self-defence" in 'Standard Operation Procedure' jar against the fluid momentum of the guitars, while 'Who I Am' squanders lethal thrash riffing by including a chorus that asks, "Aren't you afraid of me? / Yes I am afraid of you / Don't you know who I am? / Yes I know who you are" over silly double-kick drumming.

Thus, it is Ralf Runkel's performance that stands most open to criticism, having a voice that is neither harsh nor clean but more often strained. On the other hand, it is the nuance that he adds to 'The Answer' that allows the closer to feature softer verses, while 'Princess of Death' offers treated vocals to produce the aura of sickness to complement the lyrics. One other instance regarding voices stands out, that being 'Die with Pride', which supposedly features Paulo Di'Anno (some sources - inlcuding Odium's Bandcamp - mention this but others don't, so I'm not completely sure): here, the vocals edge closer to Grave Digger's Chris Boltendahl, who is just about the last word in big, craggy roars, though the song itself is mid-paced and mediocre.

For the rest of the album (from 'Pain' onwards), there is really nothing to complain of barring a couple of boring song titles, each song having a different feature to recommend it, whether that be the heroic riffing and mellow bridge of 'A Tragedy', the faster pace of 'War', the memorable chorus of 'Pain', or the aforementioned qualities of the closing pair. Again, the album seems to increase in weight as it goes on and several tracks must stir the listener's neck into action unless they are as rickety as Frankenstein in that department. There is no clear highlight, though 'A Tragedy' appears most like the centrepiece of the album to these ears.

As such, The Science of Dying represents another fairly solid effort from Odium that could act as a companion to their latest offering. The band don't quite have the edge to make their music totally distinctive in a crowded scene but doing this for 20 odd years has to count for something, right? There's no science to this, just pure passion and commitment.