Obscura - Omnivium
I admit it, I wrote this band off before I ever even heard them. Considering their label, tour partners, positive reviews from questionable sources, and the fact they named themselves after one of the most technically insane albums in Death Metal history, I guess I just assumed they’d be an unmemorable, mathematical endurance test at 4,000,000 bpm. Well, I was wrong and it probably won’t be the last time. The fact is Obscura’s sound owes more to Emperor, Opeth, and Between the Buried and Me than it does to Necrophagist, Brain Drill, or Origin. The Germans use a very expansive, multi-layered approach that consists of a foundation of Progressive Death Metal but incorporates many different atmospheric factors. Acoustic guitar flourishes, vocals that range from guttural to clean to all-out Blackened, a myriad of different paces, and a brilliant mastery of melody is not what I was expecting, but was pleasantly surprised to find. Sure they are wizards on their instruments - this is Pestilence’s Jeroen Paul Thesseling on a fretless bass we’re talking about, plus ex-Necrophagist drummer Hannes Grossman pounding the skins - but it never gets in the way of the actual song. Opening epic “Septuagint” is fairly representative of everything the band can do and therefore the perfect song to put first. “Ocean Gateways” and “Euclidean Elements” are in my opinion the album’s most brutal cuts, which transition nicely to “Prismal Dawn” and “Celestial Spheres,” the band’s somewhat lighter, more mellow side. Meanwhile, mostly instrumental cut “A Transcendental Serenade” features a guitar solo so jaw-dropping I actually had to rewind it, and I usually give less than a shit about solos. I’m sorry I misjudged them. Pure talent. No shit.
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