For a while it seemed like people in hardcore bands would undergo this metamorphosis that changed them from raging balls of adolescent angst into sensitive young adults channeling that angst with more subtlety in their music. This initially spawned the post-hardcore movement where bands like Into Another and Quicksand came into existence. This cycle seems to continue on in one form or another even to this day as people tire of screaming their heads off and move to making more musically accomplished work. Robots and Empire is a band of individuals who have undergone this metamorphosis, changing from people in the metalcore bands When Dreams Die and Drowning Room. Omnivore is the third release from Robots and Empire (following the self released CDs Crawling from the Wreckage and Cast Shadows on Dragons) and their first for an independent label.
The guitars sound good on "Skywelder," which also has some really interesting vocal melodies. Robots and Empire should stick with and develop this type of sound as it stands out on Omnivore by leaps and bounds. "Monolith" sounds like Seamless during the more melodic vocal section while the music sounds too produced with no bottom for the lows and the screeching feedback highs just do not pierce enough at all. Often though, the band's vocals just do not gel and just sound kind of annoying like on "Spider Mites" and "The Owl." "The Midst" again sounds similar to what Seamless does at time while a large part of the end of the song is a long, drawn out jam session. There is also a noticeable Cave In influence in songs like "Mudgash" (at least at times in the vocal sound department) and "Erase Your Name" particularly in the noisy sounding guitar interlude that starts at about the forty-five second mark and continues until about the minute and a half mark before going into some weird hardcore like group yells. While "A Flightless Wonder" is a good listen, the Cave In influence or sound similarity is undeniable, at least before the beefy guitars kick in for the last forty five seconds or so.
Yeah, Robots and Empire try real hard to sound different, but the name of this album, Omnivore, describes their sound entirely in that they consume bits and pieces of their influences and spit them out all over their songs. There are some high points, but they are scattered amongst and throughout the other songs on the record. I am sure some people would be into Omnivore as the production is excellent and the band members obviously can play their respective instruments (fans of Seamless and other bands filled with hardcore kids moving on to try and form rock bands take note), but I am not one of those people.
