OSI - Blood (2009)

Heavy metal isn’t generally known for its ambience. Listening to any of OSI’s three releases it doesn’t appear that Kevin Moore or Jim Matheos received that memo. Their latest release, Blood, is a natural progression from its two precursors. Where 2003’s self-titled debut felt a bit tentative, 2006’s Free and their latest, Blood feel decidedly more certain.

While some may describe OSI’s music as being progressive metal, perhaps ambient metal is a more fitting descriptor. While the music does certainly bear the evidence of the progressive metal roots of both Matheos (Fates Warning) and Moore (Dream Theater)—Moore’s influence provides the music with a much more ambient feel that listeners only caught sparse glimpses of on his Dream Theater material.

After providing percussion on the first two OSI releases, Mike Portnoy bowed out for the third outing—in his place Matheos and Moore tapped Porcupine Tree’s Gavin Harrison. Given Porcupine Tree’s musical proclivities, one might argue that while Portnoy may have a better pedigree, Harrison’s style is a much better fit for this band than his predecessor.

With each successive release Moore’s vocals have seemed to fit better than the one before. While Moore is a mediocre vocalist at best, his sparse vocals fit the general ambience of OSI’s music. And much like on their debut in which Porcupine Tree’s Steve Wilson contributed his vocals to shutdown, OSI once again knew when to invite guest vocalists to step in—Mikael Akerfeldt (of Opeth) on Stockholm and Tim Bowness on No Celebrations (only available on the 2CD Digipak version).

In addition to No Celebrations, the two disc digipak version of this release also features a cover of the late Elliot Smith’s Christian Brothers and an extended version of Terminal.

All that being said, this release isn’t for everyone—if you’re a fan of the first two OSI releases, the recent albums of Fates Warning, and Kevin Moore’s Chroma Key releases, or if you’re willing to take a chance on something a bit different than the mainstream there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this next leap in OSI’s musical evolution.

Related Links
Chroma Key Dead Air For Radios (1999)
Dream Theater Images and Words (1992)
Dream Theater Awake (1994)
OSI Free (2006)
Porcupine Tree In Absentia (2002)

Chroma Key - Dead Air For Radios (1999)

In 1994, keyboardist Kevin Moore left, Dream Theater, a band he had been with since their inception in the mid eighties to take his music in a rather different direction. In Moore's departure, Dream Theater lost their strongest lyricist. His contributions to Dream Theater included Pull Me Under, Surrounded, and Wait For Sleep off their break-out Images & Words album and 6:00, Lie, and the beautiful and dark Space-Dye Vest which, in hindsight was Moore's final farewell to his band and provided a glimpse at the direction he ended up taking his music following his departure.

If one is expecting the heavy metallic crunch of Dream Theater, they'll be sorely disappointed as the direction Moore took was considerably different than the direction Dream Theater has gone since his departure.

In the wake of Moore's departure he's released 3 Chroma Key albums, collaborated with Fates Warning as a guest keyboardist, and released 2 OSI albums with guitarist Jim Matheos of Fates Warning and Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater.

Each of the Chroma Key albums offers something different, but his debut, Dead Air for Radios, is easily the most accessible. One can hear the influences of Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, and even Pink Floyd on many of the tracks of this beautifully ambient CD. Moore seamlessly fuses elements of seventies prog-rock with eighties synth-pop creating a sound that is distinctly his.

While Moore's voice is unremarkable, it's perfect for this style of music which benefits greatly from his understated vocal delivery. The one constant in the songs on this album is that each track isn't so much a song as it is an aural painting and Moore isn't so much a musician as a painter who uses your eardrums as his canvas. His music isn't mere music, it's entire moods. On his own terms, Moore is able to inject a certain emotional ambience that was never fully realized during his tenure in Dream Theater.

The only link one might hear to Moore's work with Dream Theater are his clever lyrics which are just as sharp now as they were then:

from America the Video:
"lost my head in my hotel room when the ground shook
had to choose between the bible and the phone book"

from Colorblind:"stopped in the shade of a road sign
when the sun rose like a bomb
tried to read the simple writing
but the letters came out wrong
it's all white lines to me
but things are getting clearer
i can almost read the writing in the mirror"

from S.O.S.:
"cry blackbird cry over the waves i hear you
coalcovered clouds white snow there they go
ice on your wings songless he sings i hear you
nowhere is home go alone there's a phone"

from On the Page:
"maybe i should write it first
and do the living later
'cause life is so much cleaner on the page"

The only weak spot on the album is the apocalyptic final track, Hell Mary, which sounds out of place in the context of the album as a whole. If you're bored of the same old same old, and looking for something new or different Dead Air for Radios is an excellent place to start.

Related Links
Chroma Key website (you can listen to a stream of the album in its entirety here)
Dead Air for Radios (All Music Guide Review)
O.S.I. Free (Review Revue)

OSI - Free (2006)

In 2003 OSI (Office of Strategic Influence) released their self-titled debut CD. Combining the songwriting, keyboarding, and vocals of former Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore with the guitar chops and songwriting skills of Fates Warning's Jim Matheos and the impeccable time-keeping of Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy this prog-rock supergroup created a new sound all their own. A kind of techno-metal combining all the best elements of all 3 of the musicians involved.

Oftentimes when a debut is succesful a band will wrest on the laurels of the success of that debut with their sophomore release-- every once in a great while instead of wresting on those laurels a band will evolve and extroplate upon the music of their debut for their follow-up. OSI falls into the latter category as they've evolved and improved upon what had been a thoroughly enjoyable debut.

Kevin Moore's vocals sound a bit more self-assured than they had on the debut and while Moore doesn't have an exceptional voice-- he does have a voice which fits perfectly within the style of music this group performs.

But the strength isn't in the individual pieces which make up this band it's in the sum of the whole. During his tenure in Dream Theater, Moore's lyrics were often the best of any of the songwriters in the band and while Dream Theater has continued to evolve musically since his departure in 1994, lyrically they've never quite matched the punch they had when Moore was in the band. Add to the mix Fates Warning's Jim Matheos and Moore's former bandmate, Mike Portnoy and the musical chemistry is quite unmistakable.

Musically some of the songs bear a passing resemblance to the material on Fates Warning's Disconnected album. Which can be attributed not only to Matheos influence but also to Kevin Moore's occassional guest spots on keyboard with Fates Warning. Moore's keyboard work is quite melodic and the chemistry between Moore's keyboard and Matheos guitar work is some of the best I've heard since the Geoffrey Downes/Steve Howe chemistry on Yes Drama album and on the first couple of Asia albums.

Much like on the debut, the last song on Free, Our Town, is a dramatic shift in gears from a techno-metal vibe to a more stripped down acoustic song. The addition of banjo and pedal steel makes for quite a stark contrast to the crunchy guitars and electronic flourishes which grace the rest of the album.

Given how busy both Matheos and Portnoy are with their respective bands, I won't hold my breath for an OSI tour, but if one were to ever happen I'd be one of the first in line for tickets.