adg211288
Sexforce (2013) is the second full-length album to be released by Norwegian death metal act Okular. These guys aren't a band I'd encountered before, but they certainly put across an interesting promo package with a biography quoting Borknagar's Øystein G. Brun to call Okular the death metal parallel to his own band (who plays black metal) to the rather curious line-up which seems to list the main writer, Andreas Aubert, as a minority contributor where performing the actual music is concerned (backing and additional vocals only, it says in my promo pack). And then there's the title; Sexforce. Usually when metal and sex meet it's some intentionally sick grindcore group, or worse using sex appeal to hide a lack of originality, but Okular are nothing of the sort, but a highly progressive death metal act whose music reeks of sophistication, melody and an intent to be more than just another band in the countless numbers. It's one of those albums where right from the off it's obvious that something special is being dealt with.
Although there are some technical aspects present in Sexforce, Okular's sound relies more on melody to keep it flowing, and that's both in the metal sense and with the outside influences that work their way into the music. It's clear that Okular aren't afraid to include whatever they like in a death metal album. Clean vocals, including some by Vintersorg are used, a common enough element in the progressive and melodic forms of extreme metal genres but Okular have actual surprises hidden up their sleeves, such as Latin sounding guitar in a short track called The King of Life or some classical inspired piano at the end of the otherwise intense Ride the Waves of Emotion. I can definitely back up the quote about them being the death metal Borknagar too, although in Sexforce I hear an album which is a lot more ambitious with their base genre than Borknagar has ever been, and one that is also a lot more satisfactory than Borknagar has been for years (and I include their return to form release Urd (2012) in that remark).
Only one track here doesn't manage to make the same impact of me and that is Politically Incorrect Experiences, towards the end of the album. It's not bad, but when a closer like Educated For Enslavement follows and asserts itself as the very best on offer the odds are to be fair against it. Otherwise though we're dealing with consistently high quality work. I have to be fair, I don't think Sexforce is an album that is going to find a place in most death metal fans collections, but if adventurous writing backed up with extreme metal's intensity and aggression is your thing then most similar albums are going to have their work cut out to be better than Sexforce. Tracks like House Full of Colours and especially Exposing the Good Citizens should be enough to win anyone who likes this sort of thing over.
If I have a true complaint about the album it is that the vocals aren't always my cup of tea since they range through several styles including some core-ish screams but it doesn't detract that much from my overall enjoyment of the album, but still it is important to note that there could be a tad more consistency in this department. I guess that may come from the fact that there are several voices being used on Sexforce; Marius Skarsem Pedersen is the frontman, with Andreas Aubert providing additional vocals while a guest, Pål Mathiesen, is credited with doing about half of the vocals of a lot of the tracks. Vintersorg mostly provides clean singing, but also some growls on The Greatest Offender, so that's a lot of growling vocals being meshed together here.
Sexforce leaves me very positive about it straight away, but it is one of those albums where there is just too much going on to properly take it in without a few listens to really familiarise yourself with it. It's a true joy to do so though and the impact of it isn't diminished in any way for knowing it well, the mark of a truly high quality album in my opinion. This one has been surprising in every sense of the word. It's not, to be fair, a total masterpiece, but Okular sound like they're well on their way to earning such status within the progressive death metal niche. An exceptional grade rating is deserved.
90/100
(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/okular-sexforce-t3047.html)