Over-Gain Optimal Death - Over-Gain Optimal Death

Band: Over-Gain Optimal Death
Album: Over-Gain Optimal Death
Label: Self-Released
Year: 2009
Rating: 75%

Tracklist:
1. Overgain
2. Gov't
3. Aurora
4. R.I.P.

Japanese space freakout gurus Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. checked into town last Saturday for the first stop on their 2010 North American tour. They come here every year around late March or early April, although some tragedy has befallen my fellow astral travellers and I every time the Temple have been here in the last three years which has prevented us from catching their galactic live show. The most serious issue was a fuzz-induced freakout last year that literally floored my friend and forced us to leave during the set of the opener, Kinski. What the experience did teach me however was that the legendary psych collective has impeccable taste in choosing opening bands that set the tone for the sonic terror to come, but still leave their own indelible mark on the proceedings.

Our trip to catch Acid Mothers Temple was finally successful this time, but for me, the best part of the night was catching the opener, Pasadena's perfectly-named Over-Gain Optimal Death (OGOD, if that's easier). In the crowd were about a dozen local beardos, a few astonished looking east van hipsters, and a long haired dude that engaged me in a conversation about Kreator. Certainly no more than 30 people were in attendance, but every single person was digging the decimating cosmic racket these terrorists ground into our eardrums. They were an awesome sight, a stone-serious rhythm section that was compellingly intense and completely adverse to any acknowledgment of the crowd whatsoever backing a leather-jacketed wild man on guitar. A shirtless and bald drummer battered his kit with primal ferocity both within and around the beat, never failing to sustain the band's titanic momentum. The raven-haired girl on bass was tall and imposing, doggedly paying the same riffs over and over again on her battered Fender, as if to stop would mean the end of the world. The singer, a short and wiry creature, looked like he had stepped right out of the 70's, sporting biker boots, nuthugger bellbottoms, a greasy FUBAR mane, and a leather jacket with fucking TASSELS on the sleeves. He flailed violently as he bashed and mangled the strings of his weapon, dancing across all manner of pedals and sound manipulators in an effort to coax the most intense sonic incineration out of it that anyone had ever heard. Almost no singing took place, although the guitarist did shout some heavily garbled sounds through an array of warping devices. Everything was cranked several decibels past the pain threshold, and the whole way through all I could think to myself was, "YES, THIS IS ROCK AND ROLL." Half an hour later, they spoke not a word, and simply walked offstage. Enamored, I was dismayed to find that no wax yet exists with these guys' name gracing it, although they have self-released a couple CD's. After hearing one that my friend bought, I'm even more convinced. Seriously, if Acid Mother's Temple is coming to your town, go catch this smoking double bill and be treated to some of the most cosmic psych-thrash speed freak rock n roll you'll ever hear. Check Over-Grain Optimal Death out at OGOD's myspace, and give 'em some love when they're in your town.

"Overgain" kicks off the band's self-titled album with a barn-burner of a riff and launches into a garage rock boogie that constanty threatens to trip over itself. Brain-damaged Comets On Fire electric destruction guitar and piercing feedback weave in and out as the drummer pounds out scattershot Keith Moonisms over a ferocious bassline. The band basically keeps the energy level on full for the next thirty-three minutes; they are nothing if not determined to batter you with sensory overload. This album never lets up. The formula that OGOD uses is simple: Take one heavily fuzzed riff soaked in bongwater, play guitar solo after guitar solo over it with a suburban guitar shop's worth of effects slathered all over them in as many different combinations as possible, repeat as many times as necessary. It's not unusual for OGOD to grind a riff into the ground for 6 or 7 minutes at a time, maybe longer. But for the listener, it is less a test of endurance than an initiation. Get inside their trip, and you won't be counting minutes anymore, you'll just Be.

The best song, "Aurora" takes a planet-sized Electric Wizard riff and has the drummer pound brutal tom fills over top of it for 15 minutes straight while the guitarist blasts off to the Oort Cloud. It's the best song because a) it has the heaviest riff and b) because its the longest. If those don't seem like good reasons to like this song, then it's pretty clear this is not for you. To be fair, some people might complain that they do have a tendency to ride a riff way too long, but that's kinda the point with this stuff. These guys jam, and they do it well. The record is essentially a primer for their explosive live show anyways, and in that regard it gives a pretty good account of itself. Over-Gain Optimal Death do not hold my attention on record as well as a somewhat more seasoned psych-jam band like Earthless, who seem to have spent a little more time crafting their extended jams, shifting dynamics and adding different sections to keep things interesting. What this band lacks in songcraft, they make up for in sheer sonic fury, blazing way past the point of no return until the amps are smoking and the crowds have either left or been stricken with tinnitus. And if that sounds awesome to you, then welcome aboard.