I’d like to say that this review was a little late due to being so engrossed that I lost complete track of time (though that would only be a half-truth). Obscura’s fourth album will leave you absolutely in awe of the musicians involved whilst leading you on a dark and spiritual journey into the very essence of technically proficient and all-encompassing death metal.

The album covers themes that are not the “usual” Satanic spells and earth-destroying evil hell bullshit, but instead contemplate Friedrich Schelling’s German Naturphilosophie (On Nature’s Connection to the Spirit World). Omnivium itself is a “black vortex within the universe, an immortal downward spiral annihilating all kind of matter, life and elements to create something new.” As complex as this may sound, it perfectly complements the incredible musicianship on show.

It isn’t unheard of for a death metal band to have a concept or interconnected ideas for an album, but it is a little strange for a band to put such emphasis on the lyrics considering the nature of their raw, guttural and dissonant delivery. Drummer Hannes Grossmann notes that “talking about lyrics is one of the most boring things for each death metal fan out there.” This is perhaps partly why the band have included lengthy instrumentals on the album like ‘A Transcendental Serenade’. There are few moments of downtime during the album – most notably at the record’s beginning and mid-points, with opener ‘Septuagint’ delivering a deliberately less stressful start, and ‘Prismal Dawn’ showing the band playing with moments of delicate acoustic lines reminiscent of some Opeth tracks.

However, with the more robust side of the album, Obscura masterfully weave their way through a myriad of influences from jazz and neo-classical styles, all under the banner of obvious influences such as Necrophagist and Pestilence, but with the gravity of bands such as Cynic and the raw technicality of Crytopsy. Guitars are often panned left and right, washing the listener with various intricate polyphonic solos that harmoniously blend together. On the whole this gives a very pleasing non-linear sound with enough room for bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling’s trademark fretless tone and playing style to shine though.

[Originally published on Onemetal]

Unrelenting by name: unrelenting by nature. Phobia’s latest album is chock full of what they have been doing for the past 20 years, and they don’t seem to be stopping yet. The Orange County band is a household name within punk and grind scenes, and their music and lyrics have always concerned social protest and leftist politics. This album takes out the spoken word samples and any loose musical ends and delivers and tight mix of grind and power-violence.

As vocalist Shane Mclachlan has previously said “you have to live life to write with Phobia.” This is why the obvious replacement for Danny Walker — who is spending time with Murder Construct — was to enlist touring drummer Bryan Fajardo to be their permanent member in the set up. There is nothing significantly new to the approach of this album; it is just Mclachlan and his thoughts at a different time of his life. You get the same metallic, dry, Jackson wielding guitar sound as before, and without the buzz factor like bands such as Magrudergrind pump out. This has also meant that the recording of the album was much like a free-for-all. If one member has an idea, then they get to put it on tape. Even guests and friends can get on the act and lay down some guitar work if they want to – it is a more democratic approach to song writing. Mclachlan asserts further that he hasn’t gone soft in his “old age”. The final track ‘If You Used To Be Punk, Then You Never Were’ maintains that the band are still on the cusp of the anarcho-punk scenes, still supporting the movements back in California, it’s just that he has become more of a realist with age: “it’s just a different life now, somebody depends on you and when it’s family, its way important.” To the band, “punk rock is a lifestyle, not something to imitate at one point in your life.”

If you know Phobia, then this will not come as a surprise to you. If you have found yourself listening to Wormrot or Murder Construct, then you should check this out. More often than not, the extreme tempo songs contain semi-breakdowns and wild Kerry King inspired dive-bomb solos, such as on ‘Enemy Within’, ‘Mental State’ and ‘Life’s Animosity’. Fittingly during these more measured passages, the band slow down a little, the double bass drums roll and, I guess, people will be frantically wind-milling. ‘Tradition of Power’ even steps into the territory of thrash, with its final third of aggressive upper-neck power-chord riffing. Despite 17 songs long, this is actually an EP by the band, as the total length is a mere 15 minutes. It can feel overly condensed, but this constant heightened tension is exactly what Phobia does so well.

[Buy from Amazon]

[Originally published on Onemetal]