Album Review: The Offering - Seeing The Elephant
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
The Offering have been one of the most exciting bands in modern metal to emerge in recent years. I, like many others, was absolutely floored by their debut album Home with it’s boundaryless approach to songwriting and playing and it’s deft balance of crushing heaviness, melody and catchiness. Still feeling the buzz from Home, it is safe tp say that the sophomore album Seeing The Elephant is a very highly anticipated release.
If you haven’t heard The Offering before then it is quite hard to describe their sound as they don’t restrict themselves with the concept of genre. It’s all metal but there is no distinct style that they adhere to combining big chuggy grooves that are reminiscent of Slipknot, the dark melodic songwriting sensibilities of Nevermore, the guitar pyrotechnics and progressiveness of Symphony X and the creative zaniness of Devin Townsend and that is just scratching the surface of what makes The Offering tick.
Album opener W.A.S.P. is a statement for the band and is one of the heaviest and most relentless songs on the album though with a distinctly progressive mid-section whilst those heavy grooves mentioned beforehand are prevalent in the absolutely crushing Rosefire which is one of the most angry songs on the album and the righteous fury of Flower Children. More melodic moments can be found on songs such as My Heroine which has big System Of A Down vibes to it whilst Tiny Disappointments is one of the most emotionally charged songs on the album.
Seeing The Elephant feels like the next logical step for The Offering. It is an album born during the lockdown and charged by not only frontman Alexander Richichi witnessing the Floyd George protests in 2020 but also by guitarist Nishad George having to witness his father lose his battle with cancer. It is an album fraught with despair at the actions of humanity but also coping with one of the most human emotions possible - grief. For those reasons Seeing The Elephant is a far darker and heavier album than its predecessor and whilst a mesmerising listen it lacks the spark that made Home such a special album. Not to detract from the positives of this album as it is a far different beast but Seeing The Elephant is a far more challenging listen. An album that I think take several listens to fully digest but brings its own rewards when afforded the time. A darker, more emotional and increasingly complex album is definitely the next logical step for The Offering and an album I’m sure is going to get the critical acclaim that Home was afforded.
