OvO-Cor Cordium

Supernatural Cat
2011

Italian avant/extreme duo OvO's sixth album Cor Cordium (the title translating to "heart of the hearts") is an epitaph to the memory of idolized English Romantic poet and adventurer Percy Shelley. That's the quick and dirty background information on this band. As for the music it ranges from deep moody doom to outright insane explosions that are more noise than music. I mean that last part in the best part possible. Some experimental/avant bands are more subtle about their sounds, but no OvO. They kick down the doors of normal expectations and stomp all over any preconceived ideas you may have. Despite being a two person band they frequently come across like an army pushing forth a wall of multiple sounds. Every instrument makes itself known with crazed guitar riffs, thick bass lines and powerful drums all being important parts of every track. The vocals are even more important as screams, growls, snarls, whispers and every other sound in between gets fired into the mix. Sometimes the unique vocals result in a sound like a square peg being driven into a round hole, but that seems to fit in with this band's approach quite well. More than anything else everything OvO comes across as sound very much genuine. It may not be what you expect, but it's what they truly believe should be part of their musical landscape.