OSI - Blood

2009's Blood, OSI's third release, signaled a new chapter in the group's history by not featuring Mike Portnoy on drums or a guest bassist - the drum seat was filled by Porcupine Tree's Gavin Harrison while Jim Matheos handled both guitar and bass duties himself. Mikael Aekerfeldt of Opeth lends vocals to one track much like Steven Wilson did on OSI's debut album but that would turn out to be the extent of the guest appearances on Blood's standard edition release.

A more aggressive slant is foreshadowed by the crimson-soaked packaging and Blood's content doesn't renege on that promise, opening things up with the band's most straight-ahead track yet recorded in "The Escape Artist", including a compact guitar solo of all things. The tone of the rest of the record is darker on the whole but not just in a way that the heavy songs are heavier: there is a cohesive unity to Blood's composition that elevates the individual songs past the previous electronic/metal either/or approach that marked OSI's previous output as songs like "Radiologue", "Terminal", and "Stockholm" all blend Moore and Matheos' distinct songwriting into a powerful synthesis of sparse electronica and battering-ram riffage. The tracks all feel tight and fat-free (except for "Be The Hero" and it's  strange, 2 minute quiet intro) without wandering into Chroma Key synth-pop territory - these pieces have a clearly identifiable "OSI-ness" to them that some of the lighter material on previous records lacked, coupled with some of the strongest standalone songs they've ever written: "Radiologue", "Terminal", and especially the haunting title track are immediate home runs that do well to prop up some of the weaker numbers. Blood's heavier tracks in particular suffer for being played a bit too straight and the similarities between "The Escape Artist", "False Start", and "Be The Hero" stand out more since they're put up against the more distinct soundscapes of the quieter tracks "Terminal", "Stockholm", and especially the title track, which deserves a shout-out for being the headiest shot of concentrated atmosphere and keyboard work the band has ever assembled.

Gavin Harrison does a good job of propelling Blood's more turgid moments as he's got a style all his own, playing more beneath the rest of the music than alongside it. His drumming doesn't feel as chopped up or restricted as Portnoy's and it lends an organic, almost jazzy feel to the album, especially on the lone instrumental "Microburst Alert" and the heavier tunes. The only real casualty of Blood's instrumental makeup is the bass: Matheos is a capable player, but nothing he provides ever really stands out in a way that Sean Malone or Joey Vera's grooves did. Moore's vocals are reassuringly somber, and the vivid lyrics he provides for "Terminal" and the title track only further cement his reputation as prog metal's Peter Watts.

Blood, finally, represents both a peak and a valley for OSI. They achieve a sonic mind-meld with a consistency unseen in their earlier work, but it seems to have come at the cost of some of the more experimental material found in past albums. It doesn't really drag so much as stew in it's own juices, and while that can make for a great album to visit when in a certain mood it's liable to grow stale on you.

C+

OSI - Free

While most supergroups are considered a success if they can release a single disc of quality material, OSI bucked the trend in 2006 by dropping another album on the progressive scene entitled Free, again helmed by co-captains Kevin Moore and Jim Matheo with Mike Portnoy returning on the skins. Sean Malone is sadly absent, as is Steven Wilson as Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning) steps in for bass duties for certain tracks while vocals are provided entirely by Moore this time around.

As the next stage in OSI's evolution as a unit Free leans closer to Moore's area of expertise than Office of Strategic Influence ever did, with several songs that wouldn't seem out of place on one of his solo albums. "Go", "Home Was Good", "Simple Life", and "Better" in particular are more minimalist and reliant on atmosphere than ever, eschewing Matheos' pipe-clearing riffs completely, instead trading in on Moore's singularly droning vocals and keyboard work to carry the weight. Other tracks, like the excellent title track, "Bigger Wave", "Once", and "All Gone Now" allow more room for Matheos' guitar parts to share the load, but never in a way that's completely smooth. Just like with Office of Strategic Influence songs have a clear demarcation between the "Moore sections" and the "Matheos sections", but the more obvious compartmentalization lends things a sterile, clinical air that fits the material. On the whole Free is a looser album than it's older sibling, dropping most of the progressive flourishes that decorated Office of Strategic Influence for cleaner, less forced vibe. Portnoy's caged-beast percussion is a clear highlight, injecting some much-needed emotion into Moore's icy compositions as he synches up with Matheos to deliver even bigger grooves than those found on the previous record - see the title track, "Bigger Wave", and "Better" for details. And if you're concerned about the previous album's political slant, Free's lyrics drop the current event angle entirely - relationships are the primary focus here. Those hoping for something more similar to Moore's work with Chroma Key will also find something to hook into here as Free shifts into synth-pop territory on a couple of occasions with "Simple Life", "Better", and "Once" and the songs on the whole are trimmed down in length across the board - nothing to be found here over six and a half minutes. And as before, the record is capped off with an excellent light acoustic number, this time in the form of "Our Town", bringing things to a satisfying close.

While it wouldn't be until their next record, Blood, that Kevin Moore and Jim Matheos would really begin to fuse the disparate halves of their songwriting inclinations into a cohesive whole, Free's songwriting lacks much of the baggage of their debut and feels more adventurous and experimental as a result. It isn't always elegant, but the band managed to capitalize on their different areas of expertise in an impressive way that never feels self-indulgent. Definitely worth a listen if you liked anything on OSI's previous record.

B

OSI - Office of Strategic Influence

A heady blend of influences and approaches as supergroups tend to be, OSI's debut offering Office of Strategic Influence presents the oil and water inclinations of chief songwriters Kevin Moore and Jim Matheos at the point of their greatest bifurcation. Graced by the presence of assorted genre alumni Steven Wilson, Mike Portnoy, and Sean Malone it had quite a diverse cast and was released to general critical approval but never seemed to gain the traction it really needed to take off, a trend line that the project's later albums would continue to ride.

The disc initiates with some of Moore's reliably cryptic samples starting things off before the loud n' proud instrumental workout of "The New Math (What He Said)" begins in earnest, rising in intensity before dropping off into the restrained electronic groove of the title track "OSI" (by the band OSI, off the album O.S.I.). Here is where Moore's vocals kick in and we hear one of the biggest differences between OSI and other prog bands: instead of the usual vibrato soaked wailing you hear from singers in other progressive bands of this ilk (Looking at you Dream Theater!), Moore has a delivery that lands somewhere between Trent Reznor and a very sleepy Steven Wilson, employing a hypnotic near-monotonous range that gives the album a decidedly nocturnal atmosphere. Sean Malone's rich bass tone provides a groovy foundation to heavier numbers like "Head" and "Horseshoes and B-52's" while Moore's distinctive synth lines and creative sound effects lace things with a hazy coat of electronica, alternating between the heavier, more traditional progressive metal passages found throughout. The lyrics provided by Moore, while not explicitly political and in keeping with his typical stream-of-conscious writing style, have a definite fixation on current events of the time without ever straying into earnest criticism or task-taking (the name of both the band and the album is a reference to a real-world US government propaganda office established during the Bush administration), keeping things appropriately mysterious.

In keeping with the alternative style of singing is the general songwriting restraint and dexterity displayed on Office of Strategic Influence. Moore and Matheos as the principal songwriters clearly aren't much interested in colossal progressive "epics" a la Transatlantic or boring displays of technical ability, as the spare (for this genre, at least) runtime of just under 48 minutes coupled with seven of the ten sings clocking in at five minutes or less means that there is little room left for noodling. What's really surprising is how plentifully hook and catchiness is found here - "Head", "OSI" and "Hello, Helicopter!" basically drip with groove-heavy bass lines provided by Malone while "Dirt From a Holy Place" and the middle sections of "ShutDOWN" give the listener plenty to latch onto before the excellent ending coda of "Standby (Looks Like Rain)" passes.

Despite the very different musical preferences of the players, Office of Strategic Influence stands out from the progressive crowd not in spite of, but because of that push-pull tension. It's less cohesive than the later OSI records but not any worse for it as the songwriting and atmosphere here are strong enough to get all the threads through the needle convincingly.

B-

Dead Money

The first piece of major DLC released for Fallout: New Vegas also turned out to be it's most controversial. Tasking players with breaching the vault of the mythical Sierra Madre casino to plunder the treasure locked within, Dead Money differed from the rest of the DLC and even much of the base New Vegas itself in it's oppressive and desperate atmosphere, marking a sharp about-face from the Mad Max-esque post-apocalyptic escapades of the rest of the game. Dropped into a decrepit villa, stripped of all your gear and forced to work with a ragtag group of other captives to pull off "the heist of the centuries" for the mysterious Father Elijah, ostensibly the one who lured you to the dead casino in the first place.

A number of design elements make sure the interesting setup don't go to waste by piling on the tension: you and your gaggle of mandatory teammates have an explosive collar locked around each of your necks, wired to go off if even one of you buys the farm. Your collar in particular is sensitive to the frequencies emitted by the still-active radios and speakers littered around the compound, adding an extra wrinkle to your exploration while also making for some intense races against the clock to sprint to a safe zone, oftentimes without knowing if one will even be there. Ammunition and healing items are rare and only dispensed by vending machines that accept the proprietary coin of the Sierra Madre and nothing else, forcing you to make every consumable you run across count while coldly murderous security systems ensure the halls of the casino are never really safe. On top of all that, the area is cloaked in a blood red toxic tint known as The Cloud - don't linger in it too long unless you enjoy being poisoned. Pound for pound, Dead Money's atmosphere (no pun intended) is incredibly effective at flipping your presumably high-level character (the DLC is intended for experienced players who've finished most of the base game) on their head.

Source: CynicalBounce

Adjusting to the villa's hostile environment is just the easy part, unfortunately, as it quickly turns out that you aren't alone among the ruins and dust. Enigmatic roving scavengers known as the Ghost People stalk the grounds, laying increasingly vicious traps for you and generally contributing to your increasingly serious hypertension condition. These guys have some of the coolest designs in the whole franchise and while exactly who they are and where they came from is somewhat addressed they never lose their air of Silent Hill-esque inscrutability. Completely silent save for easily-missed breathing, they amble out of the crimson shadows and approach you with a methodical obsession, absorbing far more damage than anything shaped like a person has any right to and are only truly dispatched when dismembered - leave them dead but intact and they'll rise again to resume the pursuit.

The thread of the plot is pretty linear here, but not without reason - I found myself thankful for the clear objectives as the rest of the Sierra Madre gave me plenty to worry about. The story of the Madre, the people who built it, and the others you encounter during the run of the events of Dead Money all contribute to a common theme found in New Vegas and it's DLCs: letting go of the past. No spoilers, but things come to a head in a great way and the climax of the heist had me, literally, on the edge of my seat. While the game's chunky, inelegant flow and stiff gunplay lent themselves surprisingly well to a survival horror design ethos, the characters and world of Dead Money are the true treasures at the heart of the Sierra Madre.

B+

Mafia 3

So a bunch of gameplay was released for Mafia 3, the upcoming open world game from 2K and Hangar 13. This one is differing from earlier entries in the series by starring a biracial Vietnam jarhead instead of an extra from season 3 of The Sopranos, and there's been a lot of talk about the game's depiction of the protagonist's race as the game is set in New Orleans circa 1968 - cops will apparently act aggressively towards you in upper-crust neighborhoods, sometimes even forcing you to leave certain areas, and they operate along the lines of the usual video game police force, i.e. expect to get your brains painted on the curb if you so much as stand in front a cop and block his path.

What's strange about this approach is that, by all accounts so far, the police in Mafia 3 are much more limited in their interactions with the player than in previous games, which featured a surprisingly well-layered system of wanted states, both for cars and on foot, plus fines for stuff like speeding and running lights (along with bribes) that all combined to make the police feel like a real part of the game world. And if the state of polices relationship with black people today is any indication then you would think that driving citations and petty harassment via traffic stops would be the chief interaction between these two groups. Yet the developers opted to remove that layer of mechanics and opted for a more direct, GTA-style psycho cop style instead - I wonder if the traffic stop thing coupled with the black protagonist made things a little too real?

Also, just a note on the actual gameplay: Jesus, this game is violent. Lincon's animations coupled with the time period and the setting give me major No Country for Old Men vibes - you're really just playing as Anton Chigur here, right? Driving around an idyllic southern city, inflicting graphic acts of sudden death on other criminals (all of them white), I also can't help but be reminded of this piece. A video game where you play as a black man, killing truckloads of cartoonishly southern white guys, in a city with a less-than-excellent racial history? And what are your options for interacting with this criminal underworld? Destroy the leaders and take control/raise your own empire in the place of the enemy's - in other words, keep the status quo of crime and violence going but with different names and faces. By the end of it thousands of virtual people will be dead and everything will be exactly the same as before, but we'll have had a lot of fun in the process!