Reviews

The trend of ex-members of influential bands forming bands that are a big step down from the original needs to end. I'm not saying that you can't be in a band after you've broken up or broken off from your original one. Just make sure that you aren't resting on your laurels. Whatever is achieved in one band does not carry over to your new project unless you bring it yourself with new ideas and ambition. Each project someone does needs to earn it's own respect and not just leech off the past. Oh, Sleeper cannot be good just because Terminal and Between the Buried and Me were. There has to be something within the band, something they offer, that is new and exciting that makes you go, "Hey, they weren't just one trick pony's. These guys are actually really good no matter what they do." There has to be something like that.

There isn't.

Oddly enough, Oh, Sleeper sound exactly like every other pseudo-metal/emo/hardcore/etc-core band you've heard from labels like Tooth and Nail and Solid State over the past several years. For every original band or idea or sound that comes out of one of these labels, another handful of copycats get signed. With the release of When I Am God, Oh, Sleeper have placed themselves amongst the copycats.

While not technically a bad album, When I Am God certainly isn't anything you haven't already heard countless times before. The playing is competent and pleasing. The screams are nicely balanced with the technically good voice of an emo/post-punk singer. There are nice, dark, atmospheric textures. Plus, it has the dark, angst filled lyrics that the kids seem to go crazy for these days. Seems like a formula for success, right? Well, it would be...if every other band in this genre hadn't thought of the exact same formula.

The album itself is certainly listenable. It tends to bring to mind Thrice's The Artist in the Ambulance more than anything. There's a particularly nice balance between the metal edge of the band and the more melodic side of their persona. You can also hear the heavy influence of Between the Buried and Me permeating through almost every track.

Overall, When I Am God isn't a bad album, nor is it one that will be remembered years from now. Oh, Sleeper show a lot of potential. They certainly have a good pedigree to inspire faith that they will climb the metalcore ranks, but, on this album, they're still working their way up.