Thursday, December 6, 2018

Otep - Sevas Tra (2002)

   Otep appeared as something special from the mass of nu metal bands. Their debut EP "Jihad" sounded very promising and introduced wider musical diversity during it's 15 mins than most other bands on a full-lenght record.
   But sadly in full-lenght version they didn't seem much different either. For this the extended passively suffering parts are mainly responsible, because compared to "Jihad" these took away a lot from the intensity of the album. The slow downs were needed to illustrate the inner torment caused by personal issues. But unlike at other bands in this style, these problems having a bit more serious ground, like childhood abuse and memories of being raped. But there is a something in common too with the heavier groups: they also had a very sick and nerve-racking song at the end of the album. The main concept of the band and their lyrical/performance style strongly reminded to Crisis, but Otep was a weaker and more generic production of course. And Miss Shamaya couldn't even reach Karyn's voice of range. She made her performance colorful by rapping, screaming, clear singing occasionally, and "growling". It's nice how nu metal and metalcore/deathcore frontmans covering their microphone with their hands to make it easier to growl, but unfortunately it's lame, and that's not what growling is about. Except these smaller "aesthetical issues", the band's full-lenght debut still belongs to the more genuine nu metal albums.

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