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| Obscura: Cosmogenesis |
Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal
Vots Records / Relapse Records (2010)
August 2006 / February 17th, 2009
Initial Pressing:
- Humankind - 2:48
- Nothing - 4:57
- Unhinged - 2:17
- None Shall Be Spared - 5:58
- Alone - 3:45
- Hymn to a Nocturnal Visitor - 6:33
- Intoxicated - 2:30
- Exit Life - 3:49
- Sentiment - 6:11
- Sweet Silence (Outro) - 3:16
- Lack of Comprehension (Death Cover) - 3:46
2010 Reissue:
- Synthetically Revived (Suffocation Cover) (Bonus Track) - n/a
- God Of Emptiness (Morbid Angel Cover) (Bonus Track) - n/a
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| Review Information |
Release length: 45:50
Review posted on January 23rd, 2010
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| | Original Score: 4/5 |
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| 2011 Grading Scale: 7.5/10 |
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| 2010 Reissue: 8/10 |
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| Review |
Obscura is one of those bands that have pretty much come out of nowhere on two fronts. The first being their debut album, Retribution, having a very intense Death Metal fueled feel that captured the hopes of many metal fans out of there, which took on only a small wave of people due to it's smaller label release. Since then, the band has been picked up by Relapse Records and issue their second full length attempt, Cosmogenesis, and reaching a new audience. Unlike the band's debut, this release features a more Progressive feel with a much tighter technical appeal that pulls them away from their original sound. Unfortunately, Cosmogenesis isn't quite as good as many people out there make it out to be.
The main argument to this album's greatness has been, and always will be, the amazing bass presented by Jeroen Paul Thesseling, which honestly is absolutely amazing. From start to finish, this is the main aspect of the album that stands out, and there's not that many bands who focus on the bass, let alone really let much of the music ride on that alone. "Choir of Spirits" is the first real obvious track that highlights this and the band's ability to play well with each other. While Cosmogenesis is a phenomenal album, with some well constructed tracks other then "Choir of Spirits", such as "Incarnated" and "Infinite Rotation", it's not all that memorable an album. Obscura has some very technical material present on this release, but it's often a bit traditional with "Orbital Elements" being the only track here that really has a lasting appeal to it.
This heavily Progressive album seems to rely moreso on changing up the speed and flow of the songs, as well as medium paced material to really drive it home. For fans of the first album, Retribution, this is a low blow considering how heavy the band can make their music. For the newer fans, this release will be hit or miss. "Desolate Spheres" is where the heavier, more Death Metal oriented material starts to hammer at you, while the rest of the album tries to bring out a more science-oriented side of the band through heavy use of Progressive elements and distorted singing vocals on a few tracks, such as on "Choir of Spirits", "Infinite Rotation" and "Noosphere". These singing vocals are not that bad, and at least appear with the music is appropriate, but the heavy attention to these qualities that bring the term "overpolished" to mind are really where the album starts to drown. Each song has various change ups, mostly going from slower to fast then back again to repeat.
Another element of Cosmogenesis that must be pointed out reflects two other bands completely. First of all, the music on here is actually far from anything new and fresh, as a great deal of the music on here sounds like a more Progressive-tinged interpretation of Planetary Duality by The Faceless, right down to the distorted singing vocals that are prominent through the aforementioned tracks on here. Aside that, you can also look at the guitar solos as inspired by another act. While they are impressive, there are some on here that will cause fans of the animated series Metalocalypse wonder if the band was somehow influenced by these guys as well thanks to select solos sounding like something you would have heard from season one of this show. Either way, this similarity with the solos is just something that may come to mind while listening to the album and doesn't take away from the overall impact of the album.
For lack of a better term, Cosmogenesis by Obscura comes off moreso as a heavily polished album that had the potential to be something amazing, but instead became a toned down Progressive album with some technical aspects thrown in, as well as what sounds like some jazz elements. This isn't to say the album is bad, in fact Cosmogenesis is a very well done album that some people will enjoy. The problem is that the more impressive aspects on here are too few and far apart, and much of it begins to sound repetative and follow the same kind of structure and groove. Cosmogenesis will have plenty of metal fans on the fence to whether they actually enjoy it or not, even if you have great respect for the band or what they bring to the table with this offering.
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Physical copy of this release acquired with
personal funds.
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