Female fronted alternative rock band Flynn Effect are set to release their latest album Obsidian on August 4th. My initial thoughts on this album ranged from slight shock at their growth from Skin (their first studio album) to thoroughly impressed. Their sound and vocals as individual elements really exceeded my expectations, however I felt as though these two elements didn’t quite come together in the first few tracks. I found myself in the earlier tracks waiting for some lower grunge tones that you would expect from a rock band. As I listened more, I found each song becoming more cohesive, and ended up really enjoying the unique style the vocals brought to the album.
This is Flynn Effect’s second studio album, following on from Skin in October 2014. The band is influenced by the likes of Lacuna Coil and Rammstein, and those influences are very pronounced in this new album, moreso than their first album, which had much less of a melodic vibe.
Obsidian seems so much more than an album, it is an emotional ride, with references to emotional turmoil and hardships, and the music does an amazing job at echoing this theme. Flynn Effect really branched out of their niche and explored their musical abilities on a whole new level on this album, which has worked incredibly well.
The album highlight is The Fight, one of the slower tracks on the album, but it really packs a punch. The piano melody used throughout the track Gone, together with the vocals, makes this track one of the most cohesive tracks on the album, with the piano in this song really filling in that emptiness I felt with some of the earlier tracks.
Flynn Effect do a great job at portraying familiarity in their music, while still coming across in a completely unique way, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying this album after the initial listen.
My overall rating for Obsidian is a 4/5. I came to really appreciate the talent that is Flynn Effect, and this is an album that I would listen to on a regular basis. The slightly disjointed feeling that some of the tracks gave me was easy to forget with the catchy guitar riffs and epic symphony styled accents.
– Amity Miller