OOLUU

“Viscera, like Porcelain was born from an incredibly bassy and punchy synth and drum track conjured up by Wychdoktor. Immediately this track felt different - slinking, albeit potentially heavy. Personally, the bass synth reminded me a little of "Oblivion" by Grimes upon first listen. It was also immediately apparent that this was the beginning of something that would definitely make it to the album (at this point we had many songs in the larval stage that never made it.). Although the foundation by Wychdoktor was solid, it felt like we bit off a little more than we could chew when it came to vocal, and guitar / bass guitar melodies. The melodies changed quite a bit through the evolution of Viscera, and playing live iterations of the track proved to be quite challenging. Vocally, I was inspired very much by a coked up 70s version of David Bowie, and Billy Idol - specifically his hit single "Eyes Without A Face". After the second verse before the track reaches the event horizon, and drops into complete anger - I saw no other way to address the accompanying sound but through a relentless scream - a break in a nightmarish, suffocating journey.

“Manichaeus was created without Scaphism as an intro in mind. It started when Wychdoktor made a heavy and attention-demanding drum and synth track -everything fell into place in rapid succession afterwards. Within an evening, Asa had come up with a dragging, low-fi guitar crunch, launching the song and listener into a noisy abyss. Vocally, I was very inspired at the time by Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan - most particularly the parts that were heavily vocal fried. During the writing process of Manichaeus, my focus was largely on finding the right cadence that would make the vocals stab out amongst an already chaotic sound. 

"On 'Mannequin' — Ooluu’s first-ever release — the Ottawa-based industrial quartet invokes their idols from the first track to the last. By combining evocative electronic underlays, heavy-hearted vocals, and guitar arrangements that run the entire gamut of the genre, Ooluu successfully pays homage to alternative industrial giants like Manson and Reznor without ever entirely encroaching on sacred grounds.

Standout tracks from Ooluu’s 'Mannequin' include the first single, 'Powder-White' — a track with a deceptive soft-start that bleeds into way to an aggressive, riff-heavy head-banger with a hook — and 'Toy Gun,' a militaristic, tongue-in-cheek salute to the real costs of the modern military complex. In a pleasant twist, 'Trapped Inside The Mannequin' is a mood-oriented track that lends itself to the psychedelic mirage-rock of the 1970s, not unlike the seminal work of The Doors themselves.

Ooluu’s 'Mannequin' is an ambitious exploration of an important genre that, admittedly, needs no further exploration. However, with the release of 'Mannequin,' Ooluu proves that even the pressures associated with a freshman release are no match for the band's natural musical intuition and desire to expand upon the genre that built them."