Outsound: Megatherium (Album Review)

Artist Overview

Based in Cork, Ireland. Steve Beale, Alan Murphy, Aaron Kennedy, and Luke Butler first formed to perform a Chris Cornell tribute gig in early 2018. This eventually led to the creation of an original project in Outsound. Today, their sound encompasses a new wave of progressive, hard rock-carrying forth melodic vocals through atmospheric bends, searing leads, and bouncing breakdowns. Tearing strips from blues, grunge, and heavy metal, and even sprinkling in some Beach Boys flavoured harmonies, Outsound is here to spread their madness to the masses.

“There are few bands like Outsound in the rich Irish underground scene. Forging a sound that is unique, captivating, and loaded with an abundance of melody, dressed with light and shade arrangements. An absolutely fantastic band that deserves huge respect and attention.” BLOODSTOCK METAL 2 THE MASSES IRELAND

“Outsound leveled the place with their grunge-infused riffs and rumbling low end. A fantastic band that blew us all away. We urge you to check them out”

Megatherium Album Review

Coming off the back of their fantastic single “Crackdown”, Outsound’s Megatherium is stacked full of chaotic chords and crazily good songwriting. If you are not a fan of metal already, prepare to be converted.

When I first reviewed the band’s single “Crackdown“, released in April, I knew this band was something I should keep an eye on. From a critical point of view, it was a song that had everything: good songwriting, fantastic instrumentation, and relatable storytelling about the struggles of the COVID lockdown. However, this album proves that the band isn’t just a one-trick pony, and their single isn’t even the best song on the album, which is certainly saying something.

On Megatherium, the vocal performances and the instruments bond together to form a chaotic, metal bond that continuously evolves throughout the album. The opening track Murder/Dream is one of many that demonstrates this quality; not only does it feature a flurry of badass guitar moments, but the lead singer’s angsty, raspy vocals layered over the instrumentation make the song even more menacing and mesmerising to listen to. Not to mention the awesome chord switch in the transition into Dream, a truly flawless song to kick things off with.

Murder/Dream is only the beginning, however, as Outsound don’t let their foot off the gas for the rest of the album. In track two, Venereal Charm perpetuates the energy of the nu-metal madness left over from the previous track. A sublimely dark guitar coupled with equally epically punchy drums makes for three minutes of nonstop headbanging. Once again, the raspy vocal performances and dark, edgy lyrics control the atmosphere of the track and draw the listener into Outsound’s lightning-sky ambiance.

One of my favourite tracks on the album is Crème Brulée, with its slick line-by-line delivery in the verses and the catchy, melody-driven chorus that, to me, makes the song so great. The mixing, like the rest of the songs on the album, is impressive and manages to bring out the clarity of every instrument without losing out on any of the song’s vocal components.

Atmospherically, however, for me, it’s Adeline that takes the cake. It easily has the coolest opening of any song on the album and has the ambiance of an amalgamation of Deftones and Audioslave songs, as if Chino’s raspy and angsty voice were singing lyrics written by Chris Cornell. The drums also steal a little spotlight from everyone else in the song. Moody and atmospheric, they make that Deftones-derived sound of the guitar even more unique and magical.

Finally, the album’s closing title track is simply destined to turn any new listener into a fan. Epic by any metric, Megatherium has a sound that just feels unique to this band and this band only. From this song alone, you can tell that Outsound is a band that has a deep love for metal and rock music and, most importantly, understands what makes it tick. At six minutes long, the closer feels like the backing track of a slow walk through hell; it’s grandiose, eerie, and awesomely evil.

Score/Outstanding: Outsound impressed me to the max, just like I thought they would. For ten songs straight, they rarely put a step wrong, and they don’t miss a beat. Outsound? Outstanding.

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[I rank albums on a scale of poor, moderate, good, excellent, and outstanding.]

Written by Jake Campbell