Osyron

Canadian progressive metal quintet Osyron didn’t leave themselves much wriggle room when they called their third album Momentous. Fortunately, these residents of Calgary, Alberta genuinely seem to have struck upon a new, potentially game-changing formula. While owing plenty to the hallowed likes of Dream Theater and Symphony X, Momentous also harnesses the cutting edge heaviness of post-Tesseract metal /and/ a strong sense of old school prog ebb and flow. As a result, Momentous lived up to its title with ease when it emerged late in 2022.

“We’ve always tried to stay melodic and within the realm of hooks and melody,” says surname-less vocalist Reed. “But then we’ve also tried to get darker and heavier. Over the last two releases (Momentous and 2020’s Foundations EP), we’ve really just focused more on songwriting, getting smarter and thinking about why we’re making the decisions we’re making, like ‘Where does this lead us and what are we trying to convey?’ The silver lining with the Covid thing was that there was a lot of inspiration and we had a lot of time. I really think that helped us to progress.”

A significant leap forward from Osyron’s early releases, Momentous manages to cram everything from full-bore thrash metal to ambient neofolk into its 56-minute duration. Melody remains the Canadians’ greatest weapon, however, and Reed’s versatile and emotive vocal performance is as convincing as it gets. As he explains, these songs were written during a time of introspection that the majority people can surely relate to.

“The lyrics stem from a lot of depression, and a lot of overcoming obstacles,” he notes. “The album became about larger than life things that make you question who you are, the place where you live and the people around you. We wanted to express that on a large scale, and to make it dark, atmospheric and a little unsettling. I also want to push myself and do different things with my voice on every record. I want to be able to do everything that I hear in my head, and so far I’m able to do that with this band.”

Since releasing Momentous late in 2022, Osyron have already started work on their next studio album, which Reed promises will be more their most adventurous yet. The band also notched up an appearance on the legendary 70,000 Tons Of Metal Cruise, wherein they were the only Canadian band /and/ the most overtly prog-inclined act on the bill.
“We got to hang out with people we’ve idolised, like Amorphis, Kamelot and Evergrey,” Reed recalls. “So it was great to represent our country and see how the pros operate, and then get drunk with them!”

Hangovers notwithstanding, Reed hopes that Osyron will get many more opportunities to travel in the name of adventurous, heavy music. So far, so good.
“This has always been the dream – to make music and tour and see the world. It’s a little tougher, coming from western Canada, but I like that because it makes us work harder. So the ambition stays the same. We just want to share the music and have stories to tell around a campfire when we’re old and decrepit!”

LINE-UP
Reed (vocals), Tyler Corbett (bass), Bobby Harley (guitar/vocals), Krzysztof Stalmach (guitar), Cody Anstey (drums)

SOUNDS LIKE
A deft fusion of melodic prog metal, post-djent precision and ambient noir

CURRENT RELEASE
Momentous is out now

WEBSITE

— DL