www.ochiuk.co.uk
Memorist, named due to frontman Jon’s inability to forget, is a six-piece alternative metal outfit that crafts powerful emotional journeys for the listener, through Jon’s personal experiences and perceived injustices. Layered in satisfying atmospheric textures and driving choruses, the musicians are experts in creating tension only to explode into a salvo of memorable melodies and lyrics to identify with. Influenced by the likes of Deftones, Northlane, and Hans Zimmer, and, having already garnered a wealth of recognition from fans, industry, and contemporaries alike, the band has featured on live streams from Tesseract’s Dan Tompkins and Fit For a King’s Ryan Kirby and have over 1.8 million combined YouTube views across their five music videos, and approximately 2.4 million streams on Spotify alone (with a monthly listenership of over 100,000 active fans).
The band recently announced signing to the emergent UK-based label Year Of The Rat Records. It’s released the singles ‘The Empiric’, ‘Second Sequence’ ‘Kijo’ and ‘Slither’ to rave reviews. The band dropped its debut EP with the focus track ‘ONI’ on 12th November 2021.
“ONI/KIJO” is refined and considered a calling card of a debut EP. Carefully balancing beautiful soundscapes, delicate melodies, thunderous aggression, and soaring vocals; this 5 track is a sign of things to come for this South-West six-piece. Charting the emotional journey of singer, Jon over 18 months through the breakdown of a toxic relationship, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the resulting aftermath; Memorist continues their ability to tell challenging, compelling stories through captivating song cataloging emotional turmoil.
Speaking about ‘Oni’ and the EP release vocalist Jon says, “Treading a far heavier line than we have previously, “Oni” is a personal favorite among a lot of the band and the perfect way – as we see it – to open our debut EP, “ONI//KIJO”. We built a name for ourselves as a predominantly melodic rock/metal band who had occasionally dipped our toe into heavier music but had never fully explored our roots and personal tastes in a far more aggressive sound. “Oni” is really only a taste of what we are capable of in a heavier arena, and we are incredibly excited to see what happens next. Laced in nu-metal influence, “Oni” kicks off the EP with a blistering assault of electronics, riffs, and drums coupled with an aggressive opening lyrical salvo. This is a song for our fans who have been begging for “heavy” since a brief, screamed second verse in our debut single, “Loss”. The video for this song aligns beautifully with the lyrical and musical theme, balancing art and aggression with finesse; Shaun at Loki Films did an incredible job. This is the perfect opener to a calling card EP of songs that show what MEMORIST is really about. “Oni” explores the darker side of the story told throughout “ONI//KIJO”; the painting of myself as a monster throughout a hideous set of experiences over the past year. The lyrics consider the contrast in the portrayal of two individuals and the perception of one as virtuous and the other as evil, whilst in reality, the stark opposite is true. The chorus considers my experiences prior to the last 12 months and a lingering regret for having not removed myself from the toxic relationship sooner, thus being able to circumvent the suffering endured by myself and my family entirely, combined with remorse for having not stood up to my abuser when I had the chance.”
Memorist – ONI//KIJO – Pre-save – https://lnk.to/Memorist-OK
ONI // KIJO pre orders and Merch – https://memorist.co.uk/
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