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Maturing to a stronger bite.-
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| Obscura: Omnivium |
Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal
Relapse Records
March 29th, 2011
- Septuagint - 7:18
- Vortex Omnivium - 4:14
- Ocean Gateways - 5:56
- Euclidean Elements - 4:51
- Prismal Dawn - 6:20
- Celestial Spheres - 5:28
- Velocity - 6:04
- A Transcendental Serenade - 6:13
- Aevum - 7:51
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| Review Information |
Release length: 54:13
Review posted on March 28th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8/10 |
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| Review |
With their last effort, Cosmogenesis, Obscura touched a musical plateau that found the group changing from a more Technical Death Metal style to an atmospheric Technical Death approach thanks to a Progressive Metal influence. Unfortunately, that wound up causing the band to lose their bite, and ultimately led to an album that just wasn't as good as many had hoped, but showed plenty of talent and initiative from the band as far as developing atmospheres through technical music goes. Omnivium is the highly anticipated third full-length album, following up Cosmogenesis to a crowd of loyal fans who hope to find this group settling in on their newfound style. While Omnivium definitely shows improvement, it also feels lacking on some of the key positive aspects that had their fans salivating like rabid wolves.
There seems to be a stronger input from the band at trying to capture that Technical Death Metal bite within the music that seemed to be lost on their last CD, and that input is rewarded nicely. The music on many of these tracks often seemlessly blend between the more straight forward Technical Death Metal sound and the lighter, more atmospheric Progressive influences. This is pretty obvious in the first song "Septuagint", one of the longest tracks on the recording, but it's a well done song that, granted, at times will feel a little drawn out, but as it progresses, there's no denying that the group has put more effort into making a rather brutalizing atmosphere against the more placent Progressive elements. The song also seems to briung some heavy old-school Thrash near the final third of the song amidst the chaos, and Obscura finds themselves jumping into slower, more acoustic-sounding sections that are shorter, but make the impact the band is clearly going for, closing on a positive Progressive note that suits the climax as perfectly as it could, and wraps up the song as evidence of what is to come for the rest of the release.
One of the more interesting elements of the recording that works out well for the band is some of the more Doom Metal influence that appears on some tracks. This also appears in "Septuagint", but at the same time doesn't really become as obvious until "Ocean Gateways". While the song will slow down to what feels like a Doom Metal vibe in the way the band plays it, but comes off more like something from "God of Emptiness" by Morbid Angel. It's interesting, and brings in a much deeper vocal performance, giving the album a little extra kick during these moments, which thankfully aren't abused throughout the recording. But, one of the things that really feels lacking with this release is the bass. The bass lines of Cosmogenesis were some of the most impressive in a Progressive Death Metal effort listeners have heard in a long while, and on this release it feels like they are completely sacked in favor of guitar solos outside a random moment here and there, such as on "Celestial Spheres", one of the few songs to really focus on the bass outside of having it podded up moreso in the recording, though typically just playing what the guitar plays, again taking away from the impact that the bass could have on the recording.
The band also seemed to scrap much of the science-fiction vibe they really built up on the last release. While it's not the biggest let down, making room for the more heavier material such as "Vortex Omnivium" and the machine-gun like "Velocity", it feels a little lacking, especially with some of these titles, the artwork, and even the album title: Omnivium. It's here, "Velocity" has it for a brief bit thanks to some background effects as a Space Rock-like guitar solo that isn't the most impressive but suiting to the slower more Jazz-like atmosphere of the slower music past the half-way point. But that's just it, you can tell the band is going for it at times, and it either just don't work out, or just misses the nail with the hammer. If the band can take some of the concepts that go into the slower parts of "Velocity" and manage to include them in the heavier, even faster tracks, even as background noise or ambience, then the group would really stand out more, and Omnivium wouldn't feel like a step back from the signature elements, regardless of how much more bite is on this release, and how welcomed it is by their fans. There's also the lack of overly technical material, dumbing the music down a bit so that the album doesn't feel like the group is simply showing off how fast and precise they can play, which was one of the main issues taking away from the bite of the last album too, so the long time fans since their debut will more then likely be pleased with this element of the music. All of this can be felt throughout the release, and becomes pretty obvious right off the bat with the opening track "Septuagint".
Omnivium is a strong release from Obscura that shows the band working hard to mesh both their newly found Progressive elements with their earlier straight forward Technical Death Metal sound. Unfortunately some of the band's key elements that thrust them into the spotlight seem to be gone with this release, but in the end there's a decent amount of atmosphere to the release to keep the fan happy. The music can often be intense, or take on a slower persona that tries to emulate the science fiction influence of the group, but sometimes misses the mark and comes off as something else entirely, such as Jazz, or similar styles. Without an over-the-top sound, the band manages to muster together a heavy Death metal album that deserves that title, and really makes up for lost ground during their musical transition previous to this release, making it a solid enough album for any Death Metal fan to actually want to check out.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Relapse Records.
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