Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob) recently declared Corey Glover (Living Colour) one of the greatest singers on earth. Living Colour fans won't disagree as Corey Glover's voice has that ability to grab the listener's guts. The two artists met and formed Sonic Universe last year. Their debut album “It Is What It Is” is a fine opportunity to showcase the full extent of their talent.
Mike Orlando's original touch is recognizable from the very first notes, as are Corey Taylor's first phrasings on the mic. At times, you're not sure whether you're listening to Corey Glover on Adrenaline Mob or Mike Orlando on a Living Colour album... The bassist (Booker King) and drummer (Taykwuan Jackson) are studio musicians who have already worked with Corey Glover, and who fill their roles perfectly, adding a groovy touch to the whole, to offer a bouncy rock closer to Living Colour than to Adrenaline Mob.
The eponymous track “It is what it is” is something of an emblem of this album: a driving drum base borrowed from neo metal, whammy riffs a la Rage Against The Machine, verses and choruses inevitably reminiscent of Living Colour and furious guitar solos: the track doesn't leave you indifferent. The rest of the album is relatively balanced, though uneven. The intro to 'My Desire' is once again straight out of Rage Against The Machine. Fortunately, Corey Glover's vocals invalidate the comparison, his version of fusion metal being far removed from that of Tom Morello's band.
The further the album progresses, the more one wonders where the band wants to take us. 'Higher' follows on from 'Whisper to a Scream' without any connection, the choruses we loved at the start of the album start to sound the same, and in the end, Corey Glover's singular tessitura becomes wearying, despite all the respect it deserves. Similarly, Mike Orlando's squeaky touch sometimes gives the unpleasant impression of lacking clarity. Nuno Bettencourt's guitar also squeaks in its own way, but always remains impeccably clean. As we near the end of the album, a little nugget appears out of nowhere, “I Want It All”, with all the ingredients to get the listener's head nodding: catchy riff, catchy vocals and groovy rhythm.
Sonic Universe has an advantage which is also its biggest drawback: the two main artists who founded it each try to make their own mark, to the detriment of the cohesion of the whole. It will take some time for the group to find its true identity, but what happens to them is symptomatic of collaborations between musicians with a strong character. We'll have to wait for the second version of this collaboration to see if 1 + 1 > 2... Or not.