What happens when a band that made a name for itself (however big or small) within the metal/prog genre goes ‘soft’?
Well, it is all within what any given listener sees (hears) as music that falls within a certain genre, or goes out of its boundaries, and, anyway, what would be ‘soft’ in that context?
Ohmwork, the Norwegian trio (Anders L. Rasmussen, Helge Nyrud, and Børge Bendiksen), pose those questions to themselves on their latest EP Fractions, and give some interesting answers.
Starting out back in 2012 and with six albums under their belt (In Hindsight, their latest, was released in October 2023), they were veering anywhere between power metal and prog, on ‘Fractions’ they decide to explore what would come about if they channel that power into more subdued elements of their music without sacrificing it completely.
The concept seems to work fully, as on the opener ‘Unseen’ they accentuate the melody elements in their music that were always there. Their cover of Tim Buckley’s ‘Song to the Siren’ shows that they didn’t sacrifice any complexity, and ‘No Other Way’ shows that they still have that power present, while ‘Devil’s Dance’ goes acoustic, as if they are showing that cold water goes so well with hot coffee, something their countrymen Motorpsycho are so adept at.
