Oracle Review by Allyson Kingsly

If you live in the USA, you find that it is quite diversified even according to regions. You have New England, cooler darker landscapes and everyone seems as cold as the territory and yet move at the speed of light. Then you have the vast region of the midwest, a slower pace, more polite folks, the Bible belt, and yet the weather proves hostile, tempestuous and oftentimes absolutely brutal. You have the west Coast, the trend setters, again moving fast and furious, and perhaps even still holding a hint of the wild that made the west so infamous.

And then there's the deep south- home to the blues, perhaps the best place to visit for the finest cuisines. Life seems to run slower and I'm quite sure I have never met  more polite and welcoming folks and aye, the birthplace of USA's death metal genre. Ah, yes only metalheads will remember the infamous and glorious Florida death metal scene. But, Alabama? Yes indeed and I am introducing you to an intriguing death metal band called Oracle.
     What makes Oracle  a wonderful metal band is their grooves added to the classic death metal sound that gives their music a smooth flow. Having formed in 2016 Oracle is a father/son team of  Trey Ozinga (drums) and Ray Ozinga ( bass) and are completed by Jason Long on vocals and guitar . Upon my first listen to their new single "Hindsight is 2020", I was wonderfully pleased by their cohesive musicianship. So, of course, I delved deeper into their discography and spent a day riding along to Forgotten Songs From Camp Yeti (2019),Seven Deadly Sins (2018),Into the Unknown (2017) and Beyond Omega (2016). There are so many elements to enjoy on these albums and if you have a very discerning ear, you can even pick out influences and flavors of other genres through the course of their work. You will hear some black metal riffing injected into many of their tracks.

My favorite song is "The Crow" and I found myself locking into that particular song as it set the mood for my rainy car ride through northern RI as the peak of autumn has dazzled us. (Some of my best review times are during lengthy "head" rides). Dwelling in darkness and intense atmospheres you could define their sound as old school death metal but there is no doubt they have stamped it with their own brand. With their diverse and complex songs (see "Greed" or "Seven Deadly Sins"), that rawness of the classic death metal sound is created with a good production and then mixed with a rather technical level of execution more in tune with these modern days.Oracle  has music that flows, entwined with rhythmic changes that can take you from a furious frenzy to a more ethereal approach via bone-crunching riffs and well- balanced solos that creep around you and suck you in their world.Check out the rest of their discography on Spotify and YouTube.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2GAHLhJxTt8K0lKqugHuKH?si=emhZrBJ1Q1-dOVjODEpWLA
https://youtu.be/lUMxDIcfSXg
https://youtu.be/kjFmKC-cQMs
https://youtu.be/zovlEaXTADw
https://youtu.be/dXmY81K-Y9E
https://www.facebook.com/oraclemetalband/
http://www.oracleextrememetal.com/

Oracle
"Hindsight is 20/20"
Forgotten Songs From Camp Yeti (2019)
Seven Deadly Sins (2018)
Into the Unknown (2017)
Beyond Omega (2016)
Metal review by Allyson Kingsley music journalist with Metal Coffee/Metal Moose