...Swallow the Land

I first heard Our Daily Trespasses in 2010 when they were opening for Orphaned Land and Katatonia. They were giving out their 3 song cd, "Swallow the Land", for free and I got a copy. I listened to it a couple of times and then, I hate to admit this, put it away for quite some time. Then someone gave me an Ipod and as I flipped through my cd collection, I decided to put this demo on it and then I actually listened to it.

The first thing that struck me was the incredible musicianship of these guys. The first track, “Lost”, starts out with Luke Moschgat (which should be changed to “Mosh cat”, if you ask me) doing a hybrid of clean vocals and death vocals, giving a kind of haunting sound to the song. Matthew Davis’ keys add an almost orchestral sound to the song (actually all 3 songs) and Keith Hancock has some incredible drum work going on in the song, but the guitars of Luke and Jade Reis are like something out of '80s classic metal and there’s a guitar solo that rings beautifully towards the end of the song.

The second song, “No Peace from Sleep”, is a little more guttural. Luke’s voice reminds me of Henri Sattler of God Dethroned. Although ODT doesn't use blast beats, this song does have a couple fast breaks and impressive guitar work in it and a very complex tempo as well. I have seen them live since that first time and I was amazed to watch Keith perform these beats flawlessly.

This all too short demo rounds out with “Tear in Reality”, which reminds me a lot of early Arcturus and "Nexus Polaris"-era Kovenant. This is the only song that doesn't have the complex ringing guitar solos, but Matt’s keyboards come to the foreground and give a dark atmosphere to the song, making me visualize an orchestra of demons in the dark playing along.

As of this writing, ODT is in the process of recording a new full-length album that I am really looking forward to. Though I’ve mentioned a few bands to kind of compare them to, it is difficult to pin down their exact sound. They draw their influences from a wide range of music from symphonic black metal to death metal, some '80s thrash, a little Goth metal, and even classical music. This is a heavy album that should not be missed by anybody who likes their music dark and somber.