Composer Reacts to NE OBLIVISCARIS - Equus (REACTION & ANALYSIS)
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- Опубліковано 13 чер 2024
- Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on NE OBLIVISCARIS, "Equus" (Official Music Video) 2022
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0:00 Intro
00:50 Reaction
13:28 Analysis - Initial Thoughts
15:37 Analysis - More Strings!!!
22:04 Analysis - Vocal Expansion
27:14 Analysis - Recontextualization
29:51 Analysis - Bass Love
32:43 Analysis - Cymbal Work
34:33 Analysis - Excellent Vocal Layering
35:13 Analysis - Lacking Dynamics
38:38 Analysis - Lyrical Dive
47:49 Outro
#reaction #prog #metal #neobliviscaris
This one is definitely growing on me.
At first I thought it's a 7/10 NeO song. One I'd enjoy on an album, but not one I'm likely to put on a loop.
Now I'd give it an 8.5, the track leaves a lot of room to let you breathe and I really enjoy that aspect, especially in the first ~half of the track. It does revisits a lot of the same ideas for perhaps a bit too long, but there are parts where those ideas are deviated from, which gives them a little extra life.
A few notes and bits of context below:
"Equus" is Latin for 'Horse'.
The song is about the Australian bushfires from 2019-2020, during which countless animals perished (including horses).
The rhythm 'galloping' at 5-6mins seems to be intentional, relating to the song's horse theme.
The female violinist is Tim's sister* she has performed live with them in the past. I could imagine she'll be a semi-regular feature in the future now that she's on a studio track and in a video.
Reflections on your analysis below (mostly on Bass):
I couldn't agree more with your note about wanting Bass to be more present in music.
Most bands have a bassist, but the bass is almost non-existent in the mix.
NeO does a brilliant job of showing what you can do with the bass. I wish more bands would experiment with the bass.
It brings so much extra flavour to NeO, and in my opinion is what makes their music stand out more than anything else, in spite of the glaringly obvious...
Dan's piston-like legs, the crazy guitars, the violin(s), dual vocalists... Those are all great and bring so much to the table for NeO.
But for me, the Bass is like some sort of glue that helps bring everything else together, and in such a unique way.
NeO could release songs without dual vocals, without the ridiculous blasts, or without the violins, and I'd find a way to love it.
A NeO song without the bass purring as it does would just leave a hole in my soul.
The female violist is his sister
my personal interpretation is they wanted some repetitions in drums patterns in order to mimick the hooves pounding of a horse (equus in latin) enduring the heat and carrying on, while the violin in particular seemed to me to recall horses's neighing in pain.The story ends up with horse's demise in the wildfire, and the songs turn into a funeral/collective mourning for it, as to represent grief for the lives lost.
This is to say that i personally think the repetition and the "dragging on" of the song was kind of wanted by the artists. By the way, i am not a musician, so i might be off.
NEO is so good. I cant wait to hear the whole album
Hell yea bruther
My favorite on the album is Graal, but it all fell pretty close.
So glad NeO is back! Can't wait for the album. Thanks again Bryan!
The band is from Australia
It’s about the Australian wild fires and the thousands of lives were lost from like animals and what not.
I love this band so much.
More like millions 😢
Sorry, just looked it up: nearly 3 BILLION were harmed/killed.
@@Meister_Dwight I was thinking millions but went back to thousands cuz wasn’t sure but yeah it’s pretty tragic to imagine.
Oh man, that's terrible. It makes the somber ending even more impactful.
An okay or bad NeO song is still a great metal song. They're in a tier of their own for me.
Unrelated but for atmospheric metal, the album "Devour the Sun" by Vvildernes is incredible. The first track, Starless Dark, is so haunting. I found my first listening of the album to be a profoundly beautiful experience. Highly recommend checking out the album.
Sól is amazing as well, my fav track from the album
This song has definitely grown on me over a dozen or so listens. Not my favorite NeO song by a long shot, that goes to Painters, but I still cant wait to see how this track fits into the full Album.
4:36 Stank face achieved. Verified good song!
If you want some more epic choir stuff from these guys check Libera: Part 1 Saturnine Spheres and Part 2 Ascent of Burning Moths. NeO's third album is perhaps their most overlooked album but is still a masterpiece in its own right. Probably has some of my favorite violin work from these guys.
Thank you Brian. Great reaction. I tend to agree on your mixed bag comment. Perhaps it’ll grow on you as it has for me. Still waiting for your Devour me Colossus reaction. I’d put it above Kaleidoscope, as would most Neo fans. Thanks again mate
Yes, Devour me Colossus is my #1 from NeO.
Personally it didn't have to grow on me, NeO doesn't miss.
After multiple listens i love this song even more, always makes me cry near the end, i actually like the repeated parts but i wish the cleans were louder in the last part ot at least got louder gradually. This was well worth the 5 years of waiting.
Same thing happened to me the first time I listened to it, but after giving it a 5th or 6th Listen, the pieces came together and it no longer felt like they were dragging riffs for no reason.
In french, we've got three common words for a viola (vielle) player : vielleur, vielleux, vielliste... that mainly means that the word is so rarely used that there's no real true name for it and that we keep ancient regional forms of the word (we say "joueur de..." = player, above all) without havint the neef of an official one. So you can say what you want, someone might however comment with the good name one day, but till then... ^^
By the way, I realize I've already heard you about this band, and already thought I could dig in their repertoire. Done, in my playlist for the holidays. And a great thanks for this contribution at my musical edification 😁Have a merry Christmas !
Off the top of my head, Tim sings and plays violin simultaneously on Libera Pt. I. They've also had added instruments before. A cello on Intra Venus, additional violins on Eyrie etc. It's not that unusual for them to experiment with some additional instrumentation here or there, they just don't pack it all on constantly.
Almost an hour of an absolute pleasure watching this video. 🌀🌀🌀🙏🙏🙏
A NeO Critical react video, a truly great Christmas gift!
Damn, I really have been enjoying this track. I like and appreciate it even more after hearing your analysis.
Thanks Bryan! :)
Always great when you do NeO. Always! The reaction is actually my first listen, so I need a few more to get it right. I'd say it's not up to par with Portal of I, but I don't know what would. Still great, am I though the only one who reckons there could be more guitar work in the first part of the song?
That thought never really crossed my mind but I do think the guitars are underused as a whole in this song. On the other hand it seems primarily written for a string quartet so it makes sense that those instruments dominate the track.
This is the best metal I heard in awhile love it put me in trance love the strings it's different that why I love it
I really love the bass in NeO's songs.
Wow! loved it
Finally getting around to this reaction. As far as getting more of that bass as an equal to the guitars, might I suggest getting back to First Fragment? You did the opening track to Gloire Éternelle, but haven't gone back. If you really want some more of Forest's fretless 6 string, La Veuve & Le Martyr, In El, or, if I'm being greedy, a full album reaction to Gloire Éternelle would do quite nicely.
Forest is a beast and I'm always looking forward to exploring more of his work. We did check out something from a side project of his recently with Teramobil and that was a neat track.
Can you please do ‘An abstract illusion- in the heavens above, you will be a monster”? So keen to hear your opinion
18:05 I call myself a violist
I agree with the repetition but I think it’s there because of the topic of the song you know. They want the somber stuff to really stick
You should check out Dan's new band "Black Lava". Loving the new album!
That was one of the best tracks I've heard on your channel, and I know you're a NeO fan, but I most certainly wouldn't say I am/ was. I went into this not expecting to enjoy it, but this was... WOW! Ironic that some of the things I enjoyed were the things you didn't enjoy. I fully agree, and perhaps this is why I enjoyed it so much, but they should wholly adopt the expanded instrumentation.
Also you would have had so much of an easier time interpreting the lyrics if you'd read the description below the music video XD You got there in the end ;)
I've seen them live once, didn't care for them, went for the headliner Ihsahn, i still don't care for them, however they are every bit as good live as any studio recording i heard, absolutely impressive performance
How could you not care for them!? :V At least you could appreciate them.
You should react to Painters of the tempest!
I already got you :) ua-cam.com/video/KCUZY77ekDo/v-deo.html
I enjoyed the track but the first thought was "good, not great". After a few more listens I can tell you is growing on me more and more, so maybe that happens to you too.
Looking forward to your reaction on their latest single!
To those that need pronounciation, I didn't even know it, it's ek-wəs (kiiiinda like saying "ekwus")
On first listen I really enjoyed this. I agree it's a bit too repetitive, but most every idea here is really good and I'm not surprised they wanted to repeat them a lot to make them even more sticky. NeO is just one of those bands that seems consistently excellent, even though they've yet to blow me away. Still looking forward to the new album! I will say that the guitar solo in this is one of the best I've heard in a long time. It sounds more "composed" than improvised, but I really like how it never loses the rhythm and just dances around the chord changes.
Isn't it wild that music this good is still missing something -- even if it's something entirely subjective? It's like Polyphia where I've enjoyed everything I've heard but nothing has really stuck with me in a way that created a desire to dig into the band more. That's not to say they aren't on my list but they're consistently lower on the list than I expect given how much I enjoy first listens.
@@CriticalReactions I've just come to the conclusion that so much about what music (or art in general) WOWs us enough to become favorites (or even enough to fully explore) is so much down to a multitude of random and subjective elements (everything from our own experiences with the genre, down to our mood that day/moment) that it's impossible to try to reduce artistic judgment to objective qualities. Objective analysis is still incredibly valuable, it's just not the be-all end-all of why we like/dislike what we do.
@@CriticalReactions .... Hello CR, one info for you - they are not a quintet, there is a second guitar player (on the opposit side than the lead in live and he is a full time member), he is more like a rythme guitar in a classical rock band - the Stones for ex.
You do a good job, only you can make me hear more then 1 houre talking ... I am french and understand quiet the half (or more hey ^^) what I hear !
requesting raction to Diabolical Masquerade - Rider on The Bonez
I'm a simple man. I liked the guitar solo very much
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For me this song was very repititous, like you picked out. Tbh, I got a bit bored the first time I listened. I tried to put that aside and listen a few more times. I find the repetition, allowed for me, to really sink into the atmosphere. Maybe some of those sections could’ve been shortened or maybe take one out??
I did really enjoy the addition of more strings, the choir at the end, and the guitar solo. The solo to me was very tasteful and did some cool things. It displayed technicality with restraint. The violin really stood out to me with note selection. Some really sharp/flat bites which added to the tension, especially during some of the repetitive sections.
Thanks As always Bryan! Merry Christmas!
Interesting, to struggle with the word Equus. It is a horse, in Latin.
Yup, finally dawned on me 49 minutes into this analysis. I nailed it in the final minute 😅
@@CriticalReactions Indeed, well done and great review as always! Thank you for doing these!
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If this song does not move you, wow, that's a big Thing....to all the people with a soul, this song is priceless, a gigantic masterpiece. Thanks NEO
Oh geez....have I misplaced my soul again? Sometimes I forget it in that coat closet by the foyer and unknowingly end up making a soulless reaction to art.
Yeah, i felt the same way. I've listened to this song a few times now and I can't get past the repetition. I'm holding off on a final verdict until I hear its placement on the album and see how it fits.
If I remember correctly, I believe the bassist said that this was the opening track
@@aidancarpio5151 Still, the rest of the album can give additional context.
Graal is stronger, so far