By Jonny Bakes
I’ve said it many times before, but I’m really easily dragged in by music that promises to use a bit of the ol’ grey matter. Concept albums and experimental compositions simply float my boat, so to find an EP that ticks both of these boxes is something I couldn’t pass up. So tonight’s listening takes me through the concept of the evolution of consciousness to the inevitable merging of artificial intelligence with organic – ‘The Omega Point’.
The concept runs deeper than just the music in this release though. The cover art itself was generated using an AI neural network, and the band plans to use similar techniques to generate the music videos to accompany the three tracks on this release. I must admit that I had never heard of Russians So Far As I Know before today, but I’m already blown away by the level of creativity that has gone into this relatively short release.
The music itself is a blend of futuristic electronic elements with guitars and drums to form something that feels more like the soundtrack for a movie or video game than it does a regular album. There’s something about the gradual build of intensity in the opening track, ‘The Omega Point’ that draws you in, and then towards the end there’s a short synth hook that sounds incredibly similar to a 90s song buried at the back of my mind that I can’t recall… If anyone can put their finger on it, please let me know!
For me, the highlight is the closing track, ‘AGI’ as it invoked seriously strong memories of playing Unreal Tournament as a kid (okay, so I still play it every now and again). It has a similar dark and daunting vibe to it with a tense energy to it. It feels like it’s building to a crescendo but then drops into a quiet melancholic passage before building up energy again. It ends up being incredibly emotive and has a similar feeling to the ending credits of a particularly dramatic sci-fi movie.
‘The Omega Point’ may be a short EP but there’s more to it than meets the eye (which is exactly what the cover looks like), especially if you find yourself going deeper into the rabbit hole. On the surface it could be easy to pass off as something a little interesting but ultimately forgettable, however I think that, if you watch the accompanying videos when they’re released, there could be a whole new element that ties this piece together into something that sticks in the memory, artificial or organic…
- ‘The Omega Point’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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