Offerings To Odin - Ravenous

Back in October 2015 Stephen Bailey and Joel Walker, otherwise known as Offerings To Odin, released their debut album Ravenous, which contains ten tracks of harsh EBM and dark lyrics. They are based in Denver, Colorado in the United States and began out when Walker wanted a creative musical outlet. Having Bailey as a friend and knowing he had experience with composition and production, Walker decided to ask Bailey to come on board for the ride. After some hard work, dancing, beer, and worshipping mythological Norse Gods, Ravenous was born. 

I will start this review off by saying that I am rather pleased with Offerings to Odin's overall quality and sound. Even streaming their material is a joy as not all the sounds are completely fucking compressed and sound like they were fed through a grinder and spat back out. A lot of harsh EBM bands think that it's okay to produce music like that and put it on the internet since that's what old school Grendel sounded like. No, kiddos, that's not acceptable anymore. We have the technology necessary to produce clean sounding music. 

There's also a type of minimalism to Offerings to Odin's music; whether it's on 'Flatliner' or 'The Hunt' - which has a cold and fierce opening that resonates isolation - each beat is dedicated to one rhythm or the next. Every other layer is there for more pizzazz, not to create a crushed sequence of non-audible chaos. I will also say that Offering to Odin's non-compressed vocal work on 'The Hunt' was remarkable, thus making that specific track one of my favorites. Everything about it from the slow paced tribal drums to the atmospheric tone was fabulous. 

However, the problem I have with most of the other songs is Offering to Odin's decision to use the standard harsh EBM chords that should have been long gone a while ago. 'Sacrifice', 'Flatliner', 'Apathy', 'DMT', 'Teiwaz', 'Stepping Stone', and 'Asphyxia' all share those vocals that have been plaguing harsh EBM and dark electro for quite some time. As mature as Offerings to Odin's sound may be, they need to figure out a new and unique way to use chainsaw chords as the backbone to their lyrics or change their vocal style completely.

However, that being said, Offerings to Odin does have a LOT of potential. On tracks such as the previously mentioned 'The Hunt' and 'The Metro', Offerings to Odin' shines. Give them some time to get their sound even more refined and matured and I could see this talented duo release something that will really get me hard. 
Mar 22 2016