OSMIUM: Relentless Primal Being

By Ania Glowacz

osmium, n. (Greek, osme, a smell) a rare metal of the platinum group, the oxide of which has a disagreeable smell… From deep in the south (Invercargill to be exact), comes this powerful metal beast with their debut album. And what a beast it is! They rock it like early Metallica, Pantera, a bit of Iron Maiden, with a vocal that’s a cross between Kyuss and James Hetfield. There’s also Black Sabbath moments, along with a plethora of others. Not to say they have nothing original to offer, because they do. Formed in mid-2005, there have been many line-up changes. A four-piece for this album, guitarist Ngarewa Reid has since left to pursue music at Otago Uni, so the band now comprises Cameron Leslie on vocals and rhythm guitar, Doug Heath on bass and Jarryd Tuhou on drums. They completed their first national tour this year, having played down south extensively, as well as supported many metal bands. Leslie is the heart of the band, contributing lyrics, engineering, mixing, mastering and production (along with Heath). There’s three instrumentals among the nine tracks, including one dedicated to Dimebag Darrell (of Pantera) who was shot whilst playing live on stage by a crazed ‘fan’. If you’re into metal, this band is well worth checking out. While the vocals are a little weak and overall the production could be greatly improved, there’s more than enough here to get them noticed. •

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NZ Musician

April/May 2009