OMNI is def the end of a great run, I love about half of Infinity Overhead but the other half is forgettable
Yep I had reservations when it dropped and the lyrics are still hard to take in spots, but in the end it was a great execution of a slightly new direction. Almost everything that came after Omni was either uninspired, bland, or completely abandoned their strengths.
I agree that overall there was a steep decline in quality from Omni onwards, but goddamn if Infinity Overhead doesn't have some of their best songs. Steel and Blood and Diamond Lightning are magnificent.
Those are the only IO cuts I ever dug tbh, and even then I’d take the acoustic Diamond Lighting 10 out of 10 times over the original Similar situation with Voids for me — Last Kiss and Invisible both really do it for me but I can’t really fuck with anything else on it at all
"Diamond Lightning" is alright, I liked "Toska". That album and Voids just feel so bland and lifeless compared to everything that came before it. The EP wasn't bad though.
I fucking love this band. Looks like most of ya'll feel about the same during their '10s run. I loved loved Omni even with its 'cheesy' lyrics. Slotting Broken China in there maybe as track 9 (not removing anything) elevates it even more. Agreed with IO and Voids both having just a handful of stellar tracks. The track "Fair Enough" from the 2018 EP they released when they announced their breakup is another high-point. In fact I like to think of it as a great swansong track for them. The lyrics are probably about a girl, but could also be interpreted as falling "out of love" with being in that band.
I think Steel, Lies and Eyes, and Diamond Lightning are great. Zeroes, Lonely Gun, and Cold Company I think are pretty good too.
Was feeling jealous about OMNI getting a fun variant repress since my copy is just that first black pressing, but huge no thanks at only offering bundles. $45 before shipping is more than enough to quell that temptation lol
Cold Company RIPPED live. I never liked how they played Steel and Blood about 15 BPMs faster than the album - it lost it's groove completely.
Ahh I must have just not clicked around enough, only saw the shirt bundles Well fuck, now I have decisions to make
Love that OMNI pressing and the shirt, I might need to grab both. Also, how do we get their music in spatial audio?
I was pumped for Steel and Blood based on live leaks, but the production and studio vocals bogged it down. It's decent. Diamond Lightning was textbook "cool idea, lazily executed" IMO. Hell of a chorus that they surrounded with uninspired fluff. I still maintain Voids was a bounceback from IO, even if not up to par with earlier work. Fundamentally, I think they just abandoned their mathy origins and cool guitar work way too much after Omni.
Like I know he was the keyboardist, but still some of those synth lines he would lay down were insane. So his departure was kinda a big deal. Again I adore OMNI
If you replace a few of the duds on Voids with the latest EP its a damn good album. 1. Last Kiss 2. Viaduct 3. Call the Cops 4. Invisible 5. What about the Boat 6. Silver 7. Fair Enough 8. Dinosaur 9. Robotic Heart 10. Lighthouse