Seven Nines and Tens - Over Opiated in a Forest of Whispering Speakers

Angry Metal Guy

Well, List season is pretty much over, TYMHM posts are drawing to a close and here we are, back to the grindstone. I am kicking off the year of our Jørn 2022 on a high. Well, so I am told. You see, I have in my clutches the third full length from Canada’s Seven Nines and Tens, an album that—I am informed by the accompanying blurb— “aims to be one of the finest metal albums to be released in 2022”. I have no problem with bands setting themselves lofty aspirations but, when you come out swinging like that in the first week of January, you kinda have to deliver. Let’s see whether this trio can live up to their own ambitions.

With two previous full-lengths under their belt, this previously instrumental outfit is stepping out of their comfort zone by adding vocals to the mix. Their 2011 debut, Habitat 67, mixed progressive shoegaze with something approaching math metal, a term I know is divisive but it will serve our purposes here because we won’t need to use it again. By the time of their sophomore outing, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Slums, Seven Nines and Tens had largely ditched that element of their sound to become purveyors of unremarkable, mid-paced post-metal. Now signed to Willowtip Records, it seems the band is trying to create a fusion of its two previous outings, plus vocals. The overall result is a tight 37-minute slab of progressive ambient post-rock, with hints of post-metal and post-hardcore in there too.

Over Opiated in a Forest of Whispering Speakers by Seven Nines and Tens

Over Opiated in a Forest of Whispering Speakers remains laid back and slightly whimsical for the most part, as somber acoustic sections give way to the heavier, post- side of the band’s sound (“Midnight Marauders”). The more upbeat and progressive elements of Seven Nines and Tens‘ effort, allow drummer, Alexander Glassford, to show off a bit more (like on “Throwing Rocks at Mediocrity”), while guitarist David Cotton (also the primary songwriter) and bassist Maximillian Madrus set up a thick, buzzing wall-of-sound backdrop. There are moments on the record—a couple of minutes into “Fight for your Right to Partial Relevance,” for example—where a slightly dissonant edge enters into the guitar sound, and it feels like Seven Nines and Tens might be about to to step into another gear but that then falls off again, leaving a relatively level offering across the board. Throughout Over Opiated, the band draws heavily on influences like Porcupine Tree, Elder and Mother of Millions, with brief nods to Astronoid (latter sections of album closer, “Sunshine”), which I wish they had leant much harder into.

According to the accompanying notes, all three members of the band take on the vocals, which makes them, quite frankly, all the more disappointing. It’s not that the vocals are bad per se, and their inclusion undoubtedly provides a welcome additional dimension to Seven Nines and Tens‘ sound, but they are somewhat lacking in variety and power. All clean, sometimes harmonized and sometimes not, with a distant, slightly dreamlike quality to them, the vocals enhance Over Opiated without elevating it. To a degree, I think the fault for this lies with the mix, which often sees the vocals swallowed whole by what’s going on around them, the last minute of opener, “Popular Delusions,” being a prime example of this. With three vocalists, however, I’d have hoped for more than I got here. Give me some power, some hooks, some truly contrasting styles of delivery. Honestly, if you’d told me this was one guy multi-tracked, I’d have had no problem at all believing it.

And that’s a shame because Seven Nines and Tens could have delivered something very good here. Over Opiated is tightly written, doesn’t get carried away on lengthy frolics up its own ass, as is so often a risk with this style, and is enjoyable as a whole but it’s lacking an edge. Any edge. That edge doesn’t need to be gritty or heavy necessarily, any more than it needs harsh vocals, but Over Opiated feels very safe at the moment. I like the direction Seven Nines and Tens have gone in following the very forgettable Set the Controls for the Heart of the Slums but there is some fine-tuning needed. While this album may be enjoyable for what it is and, unquestionably, Seven Nines and Tens‘ best outing to date, it falls some way short of being one of the finest metal albums released in 2022. And I can say that confidently without yet having heard another 2022 release.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Willowtip Records
Websites: sevenninesandtens.bandcamp.com | sevenninesandtens.com | facebook.com/sevenninesandtens
Releases Worldwide: January 7th, 2022

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