Watching the progress of some bands sure do make you feel old, a grizzled veteran of the genre. Born of Osiris is one of those bands. I got into them during the height of the Sumerian Records glory days, with A Higher Place. I was right there in the trenches when they released god-tier The Discovery. Most recently, I praised Angel or Alien as a return to form, and the record to get me back into the fold. You can read the review for Angel or Alien here. When they announced their next record, Through Shadows, it was only natural then that I would be at the head of the line, ticket in hand, journalist hat on, ready to get into the thick of it.

Through Shadows first emerged with the release of “Torchbearer” which feels like ages ago. A perfect transition, it had that smooth djenty Phrygian Dominant/Egyptian vibe that is the cornerstone of the Born of Osiris songwriting engine. A song that felt like a spillover from Angel and Alien, it signaled good things for their next record. Following that, “A Mind Short Circuiting” showed elements of pivoting to a sound more akin to A Higher Place and The New Reign and their earlier pre-Discovery work. After the release of these singles, there was a long silence from the band, along with recent controversy surrounding members in the band, many fans were concerned if they would ever release a new record. Hopefully, Through Shadows will go a long way to alleviate their fears.

This record may just be their darkest and most pure-deathcore adjacent material they have ever released. There are moments on “The War That You Are”, the title track “Through Shadows”, “Inverno” and “In Desolation” that caused me to think “holy shit” to myself, with blast beats and tremolo picked sections, very uncharacteristically straightforward for them, with growls that could have fit in any modern deathcore record. Other tracks like opener “Seppuku”, “Dark Fable”, and the closing moments of “Transcendence” include heavy electro synth elements giving a cyberpunk edge, more reminiscent of modern post-Discovery Born of Osiris.

Born of Osiris may also have dropped their guitars to their repertoire’s lowest tuning, with tracks like “Inverno” reaching depths that would make After the Burial stand up and take notice. Furthermore, “In Desolation” is straight-up Argent-core (Mick Gordon’s Doom OST spawned a whole microgenre). Arguably, the “softest” track is “Activated” featuring vocals by Spencer Chamberlain (of Underoath). There is a stark difference in the overtly dark mood of Through Shadows and the upbeat vibe of “Activated”. My knee-jerk reaction was to dislike this jarring difference, but the chorus is catchy and hooky enough that I found myself humming the tune to myself days after listening to the track. To include a saxophone solo is so damn trendy and hot right now (looking at you Sleep Token). Damn, they got me! While some of the tracks like “Elevate”, “Dark Fable”, and “Blackwater” are solid tracks unto themselves, with individually special moments, they got lost in the long runtime of Through Shadows and are shadowed (heh) by stronger tracks on the record.

Born of Osiris has had a rough go of it when it comes to their musician roster. Surrounded by lineup shifts with associated drama and controversy, the band has always toyed with drama that tended to interfere with their music. It is a wonder, then, that they have put out consistent records of quality. Vocalist Ronnie Cannizaro provides what you’ve come to expect, although Cannizaro goes demon-sicko mode quite a few times during their deathcore moments, which was a pleasant surprise. The departure of longtime keyboardist and backing vocalist Joe Buras took away the typical one-two punch vocals that the band came to be associated with. I wonder if Cannizaro handled all the vocals, including the clean vocals, because that would add another feather in his hat, because those clean vocal sections are expertly done. The biggest hit to the Born of Osiris is the departure of guitarist and long-time member Lee McKinney, who helped create and shape the Born of Osiris staccato-djent sound over their extensive catalog. Along with drummer Cameron Losch (also a spectacular guitarist and songwriter in his own right), they formed the backbone of the BoO sound. Through Shadows is the last record to feature McKinney’s musicianship, and it will be interesting to see how the band proceeds without him. Thankfully, they still have guitarist Nick Rossi in the roster, who takes a larger slice of the songwriting pie this time around, with intricate riffs to give shape to the downtuned chugs. It is a tragedy that Born of Osiris is left with a skeleton crew at the time of this record, and will need a thorough rework to keep their machine chugging along.

‘Through Shadows’ is Born of Osiris’ darkest records so far. An amalgamation of elements from more recent records, but leaning heavily on their earlier work, this record is a testament to the resilience that the band has, through adversity and controversy, while still putting out a high-quality product.