-OZ- - SIX

-OZ-

SIX

2007/05/30

1. DAIS

2. Erode

3. Shangrila

4. Illegal SLEEP

5. Resemblance

6. Enmity

There's no doubt that -OZ- were one of the flagship bands of the mid-to-late '00s for many listeners when it came to the heavier side of indies visual kei. Even though they didn't exactly make it big, their consistency is still admirable.

If I'm being honest I was never into -OZ- that much (and I'm still not), but they always seemed to have a vibe I gravitated towards on occasion. I can't recall when I first listened to them, but I do remember spinning their early releases up to and including their first mini album. I liked what I heard, that's for sure, they just didn't leave much of an impact on me. This was still back when the whole scene was relatively new to me (having only delved into it for a few short years), so I guess there was a whole bunch of other bands grabbing my attention a lot more.

I've had a bit of a tough time deciding what to showcase, but ultimately I settled on their first mini album, the appropriately titled "SIX" (spoiler: it contains six tracks). The difficulty comes from the fact that I've already mentioned: plain and simple, -OZ-'s music is just kind of a samey blur to me. On the one hand that could be percieved as a negative (not enough memorability), but in this case it's important to note that I feel like they very rarely dropped in quality... even if that 'quality' sort of just equals 'decent enough'.

The sound presented on "SIX" is very much 'of its time', so you can expect some competently played tight riffing audibly influenced by a mixture of nu-metal, groove metal and a pinch of melodic metalcore, often at a fast headbangin' pace. The rhythm section never goes too crazy, but they provide a solid base to build upon, and finishing it off is frontman Natsuki's pleasant vocal melodies and tastefully placed growls. There are moments when the band surprises us with nice harmonic dual guitars or a lighter arrangement, but overall the sound remains as reliable/predictable (take your pick) as possible.

This might seem like I'm totally indifferent to -OZ- but I guess it's all a question of perspectives and hindsight. Truth be told, if I had been writing this blog back when the band was still active, I might not have thought of including them right off the bat. In this day and age, however, there's just something refreshing in re-listening to these tunes. Much like my missed opportunity to see them live more than a decade ago, it says something bittersweet about not appreciating certain bands while we still can. -OZ- disbanded close to nine years ago, yet here I am, choosing to bob my head to their riffs instead of whatever overproduced brutal wannabe-core kei is currently making waves on the net. I wonder if this pattern will repeat in the future, or is it just this particular formative bygone era that has its hold on me, mediocre music or not?

Okay, this got a bit weird and philosophical at the end there, huh. So uhhh make sure to check out -OZ- if you can, they were pretty alright I guess (haha).