Milemarker have made a career out of change. Since the early days of the band, members have shifted, entered, and exited, and the entire group has relocated from Chapel Hill, N.C., to Chicago. The albums released over the band's first four years reflected these changes, as their sound constantly shifted, covering the full range of post-hardcore styles. After 2002's Satanic Verses, the group slowed down its relentless record, tour, repeat schedule. The result fifth LP Ominosity, a confident, focused piece, where the band seems to have finally found its footing.
The disc opens with "Killed on Public Transit", which begins as a hushed, atmospheric piece, but explodes into powerful mid-tempo rock two-thirds of the way through. The style and skill of Steve Albini and Greg Norman, the disc's producers, are apparent. They help the band cram guitars, keyboards, and layers of lead and backing vocals into a tight space without bullying any individual portion of the track. The sound fits the band perfectly; the snapping drums, the wet guitar-tone, and the doubled-up vocals inject a sense of foreboding into the songs.
Ominosity blends of the band's various styles: "Food Chain" is a melodic, new-wave dance tune during the verses, with a raucous chorus of shouted backing vocals and densely weaved guitars and synthesizers. The album's centerpiece is "Sun Out", an eight-minute dirge that pounds out of the speakers with thick, distorted bass and guitars and haunting violin. The album's other lengthy track is "Rivers of Blood", which clocks in at over eight minutes and spews forth as much vitriol and venom as the rest of the album combined. Its jerky math-core rhythm and screamed vocals lead into a lengthy, echoing breakdown. The final three minutes build up instrumentally, essentially rebuilding everything torn apart in the first five.
There are a few misses here too, though the biggest problem is that the LP's uniformity, which makes some tracks seem less than engaging. "Deserted", with its surf-inspired guitar strumming, tribal-esque drums, and low-mixed, squeaky vocals never quite takes off. Furthermore, "Rambler" is like a demented blues song, but the shouted vocals throughout the verses just don't work with the precise acoustic guitar work and the ethereal chorus. If album closer "Hydrochondria" was positioned earlier in the disc, it would be an odd piano interlude that would effectively break up the tension elsewhere. But instead, it follows "Rivers of Blood" and provides a weak conclusion to a turbulent disc.
