REVIEW:

Every once in a great while, a band comes along that blows all your beliefs out of the water. Or at least challenges what you think a band or music can be. In Oddzar’s case, it’s what a band can be. There’s an old adage that nice guys can’t be good musicians. And this is the line that Oddzar is bent on erasing, as they are perhaps some of the nicest individuals and nicest collectives playing music currently. And their music is, surprisingly, fantastic.

Most current radio bands should take notes from this band. While a lot of their songs have a very nu-metal edge to them, they also expand their wings to show that you can take one of the most hated genres on the planet and make it listenable by adding touches of space rock, classic rock, and raw emotion and making the genre real again, as opposed to a laughable cardboard cutout of itself.

It’s a touching listen, full of rage, pain, and love, requited or not. Some of the riffs on the album immediately strike the listener as something heard before, but Oddzar manages to make it just as appealing, if not moreso, than any band from whom they may be pilfering.

Oddzar’s self-titled album may be one of the most emotionally evocative albums of the year and easily sits high on the playability scale. It is also easy to sing along to, which shouldn’t earn them any points in a review, but it’s still something a lot of bands can’t pull off, no matter how hard they try or how much they think they can. Vocalist Russ Eckell is a one-man wrecking crew, yet maintains an “everyman” vocal style that is easily replicated, but not easily created.

Oddzar have put out an album that is well-worthy of earning them a spot on the musical map of not just 2004, but of the decade. Whether or not their feat is recognized remains an entirely different story.

Rating: 4.2


-- Ben Rice