{"id":69193,"date":"2018-03-30T00:00:35","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T00:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=69193"},"modified":"2018-05-30T13:46:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-30T13:46:27","slug":"album-review-octopus-supernatural-alliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-octopus-supernatural-alliance\/","title":{"rendered":"OCTOPUS – Supernatural Alliance (2018) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

OCTOPUS
Supernatural Alliance<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nRise Above (2018)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Masha Marjieh is the latest female throat on the block to deliver bewitching slices of retro-rock in the form of her band Octopus.<\/p>\n

Formed in 2008 out of Detroit, Michigan, this leather-clad, and darkly attired gang of sonic revivers are more than at home on Lee Dorrian\u2019s (Septic Tank, With The Dead, ex-Napalm Death, ex-Cathedral etc.) label Rise Above. Octopus deliver driving 70s burn-outs, styled with psych-tinged memorabilia, riff-heavy, organ-drenched supernova\u2019s and at times smoky, loungin\u2019 acid trips of deep guitar soul and occult-flecked grooves.<\/p>\n

The title track is a prime example of everything that\u2019s going on with modern rock; grimoire throwbacks to a bygone age of musty coffins, forest witch cults and sweaty, unpolished glories. However, Octopus are less so satanic than most, instead pumping hard with well-oiled pistons, somehow sounding very now and yet equally at home with their homage as they bridge gaps between Deep Purple and rounded stoner rock.<\/p>\n

All of this is led by those simple yet powerhouse vocals of the aforementioned Masha Marjieh, a raven-haired vixen who thrusts and cavorts amidst a sea of wailing guitar swirls and darker-edged bass-lines to a wall of sturdy, stuffy percussion. Masha has that ability to become an iconic rock goddess and sultry crooner in one; firing on all cylinders one moment as a leather-adorned banshee, spouting rock \u2018n\u2019 roll archetypes over a gust of raging guitars, but the next cosmically swaying with the chimes for a laid back and almost sullen breeze.<\/p>\n

In a sense, Supernatural Alliance<\/em> is what I expected; offering numerous angles, levels and shades, from the delicate strains of \u2018All The Love\u2019 \u2013 circa \u2018Planet Caravan\u2019 \u2013 to a further mish-mash of Black Sabbath<\/a> and Uriah Heep for the title track and more. Guitarist Joe Frezzato provides the fire throughout, his blazing yet familiar grooves barking up the trees of Deep Purple and Thin Lizzy. \u2018Strike (While The Iron Is Hot)\u2019 provides hot, searing, molten liquid as the combo finally gets to grips with its larva of sound \u2013 a cauldron of seemingly simple structures which seem polished and not bogged down by over-use of retro regression.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Center\u2019 toys with Sabbath circa Master Of Reality<\/em><\/a> (1971), while \u2018Sword And The Stone\u2019 has a Blue \u00d6yster Cult vibe. But whatever path each track takes there\u2019s an air of the celestial; the band less inclined to sacrifice goats but instead sit on magic carpets. There\u2019s also a Joan Jett-like attitude throughout, mainly through Marjieh\u2019s dominant tones, and so those seeking devilish attitude will no doubt soak up the black rays of heavyweights such as \u2018The Unknown\u2019 which comes complete with gargantuan organ.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where it\u2019s at, Octopus providing a rather concise, well-trimmed debut outing with enough vim, venom and yet vulnerability to appeal to the black masses.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OCTOPUSSupernatural Alliance Rise Above (2018)Rating: 8\/10 Masha Marjieh is the latest female throat on the block to deliver bewitching slices of retro-rock in the form of her band Octopus. Formed in 2008 out of Detroit, Michigan, this leather-clad, and darkly attired gang of sonic revivers are more than at home on Lee Dorrian\u2019s (Septic Tank, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,3978],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-octopus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69194,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69193\/revisions\/69194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}