By Bona Pjarren
‘Mondo Fiction’ is the newly released second album by Opensight, the progressive cinematic metallers formed in 2002 in London.
‘In Here With Us’ is the first track of an 11 song album. It is a big progressive rock track that reminds me a little of something that Dream Theater might perform. The performance is tight and compelling with passages suggestive of a 1970’s crime drama. It’s quite a heady mix that feels like it packs a lot into only three minutes.
The ‘70s vibe continues and is even more evident on ‘The Great Silence’. Funky rock style riffs power this song forward. There are some really nice rhythmic passages accompanying very catchy melodies in a progressive rock styling.
‘Plot Twist’ could easily be the resurrected theme tune from a ‘70s detective series but with a modern twist. The opening bars reminded me a little of the theme tune to the ‘Pink Panther’ franchise. It contains a really good, well thought out bass riff.
‘Stained Remains’ has a bit of a Quentin Tarantino vibe going on. There is quite a movie feel to the whole album so far enhanced with the orchestral style backing. ‘Another New Beginning’ is a short interlude with a dramatic style. I’m not certain this works.
And so on to ‘Primitive Principle’, which continues the big progressive themes. I must admit while well played and competently written, I am beginning to run out of things to say about this album.
Curse is another funky progressive rock track with a now familiar handling. Opensight have a very definite writing style that is consistant across the album so far. For me, unfortunately, the tracks do start blending into one another. I consequently haven’t found a song that particularly stands out for me.
Having said that, ‘Horror Vacui’ does give something a little different with its dark Gothic feel. It’s a pity it isn’t longer. ‘Villain’ is back to the TV detective type themes; I think that I am really beginning to struggle with this album now and am finding it harder to find things to say about it. To be fair it is probably that I was the wrong person to review this album, it really isn’t my sort of thing. To put this into perspective, I am not a fan of Dream Theater either and Opensight remind me far too much of them.
In true progressive rock style, and in keeping with the last track, ‘Secrecy’ is another quite long track. It again has the detective feel about its construction and is consistent in its delivery with the previous track. I am beginning to find this album a bit self-indulgent, which is one of my criticisms of some progressive metal. Closer ‘Thunderball’ is a shorter track in the style of a James Bond theme and that concludes listing to the entire album.
In conclusion this is not an album that I will listen to again, but as I said it really didn’t suit my taste in music. For my personal taste it could have done with being half the length; as you can tell, as I progressed through listening to it, I did find it a bit predictable. If you are a fan of Dream Theater and film themes, however, then this album is probably for you.
- ‘Mondo Fiction’ is released on Friday (4 February). You can get your copy HERE.
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