actually this album is accessible since last year's october or so and as i am a fan, i was really looking forward to this new piece from born of osiris. when pre-orders went live, there was no vinyl version but because sumerian pressed all their previous albums to vinyl, i was pretty sure that there would come a grooved plastic platter version. and it did.
the catch was that the vinyl version had an in-store date of march 2016 and it was available through killer merch only, which is an u.s. store, which meant high shipping rates. in the end i bit every single one of these bullets, because there was no alternative. when i actually was waiting for a baroness record in january, which i will soon write about, i was very pleasantly surprised at 'soul sphere' already showing up. two months before its expected release date.
musically this is what born of osiris is best at. technical death metal with synths, catchy melodies and this weird outer space/higher level of consciousness feel to it. this record is flawless and although they will probably never again reach the heights of 'the discovery', 'soul sphere' represents everything that makes me love this chicago based band. stream the whole record here.
the presentation of born of osiris' fifth album is outstanding. the cover comes in a nice tri-fold version and provides enough space for a typical piece of art, which the band uses for every release. there is an extra insert for all the lyrics and a download card for your digital amusement. the winner of the package is the lovely clear yellow and red merge vinyl, described as 'sunburst' vinyl. yummy. 500 copies pressed. sumerian records.
