OVER UNITY
Collide The Space EP

By Lips McConague

As the first few bars of Over Unity’s debut EP ‘Collide the Space’ course through my speakers, comparisons with Tool and Perths’ own Karnivool spring to mind. This is complex, intricate music played by exceptionally competent musicians, none of whom I’m guessing would have an AC/DC record in their collective collections.

This music is not designed for a ‘Saturday night knees up’ down the local or the soundtrack to a teenage roadtrip. It is intelligent and moody and probably best appreciated by candle light with a few spliffs.
The musicianship is second to none and for fans of the progressive-alt-rock genre this CD would stand up next to anything else out there. If, like myself you love a big chorus this isn’t the album for you. It kind of sounds like a million riffs and crazy time signatures that have been thrown together in a music school brainstorming session-it’s hard to tell when one song ends and another begins and this begs the question; where do you draw the line between experimentalism and self indulgence? It feels like it almost has an ‘anti-chorus’ feel to it and although there are some wonderful harmonies and vocal melodies here and there, there just doesn’t seem to be any hooks.

It is a challenging listen which (as a lover of Mike Patton projects) I generally enjoy but for the majority of the disc, to my ears the music was on a plateau and never took off.

Over Unity are yet another example of the wealth of talent that the Perth scene continues to produce. They have created an album that is slick, confident and professional…I just wish I could find somewhere to sing along with it.