Obsidian have been quietly (relatively speaking for a band whose oeuvre is characterised by near-constant brutality) bubbling under for a good few years now: 2007’s ‘Emerging’ was relentless, but this year’s model offers more subtle fair amongst the thick tones. Of course, opener ‘Illuminate’ is much like old Obsidian, i.e. like an artillery barrage on fast-forward, but the harsh growls give way to a deep-throated cleaner style that is echoes Phil Anselmo’s wounded howl. This new, more open style continues on ‘Breach’, which is akin to early Opeth, but as if they decided to innovate inwardly rather than outwardly.
‘Tidal Waves’ is where things start to get involving. While ‘Emerging’ was hardly short of mid-paced moments, this is an altogether more patient beast, the ever-more progressive with a lengthy Eastern-influenced melodic lead that coils round the bastard heavy death metal. But they push themselves even further on ‘Radiating Light’, which is by far the most expansive of their work so far, echoing last year’s darlings Swallow The Sun, and especially their knack of building a song around a solid melodic lead, and fully justifying the progressive tag.
It’s one that’s now justly deserved, as the title track proves. Like the title track on the previous record, it’s like they made a concentrated effort to distil the best parts of who they are into a magnum opus. And so it’s rightly proved, although you shouldn’t be expecting the great leap Opeth did. ‘Point Of Infinity’ is still a brutally hard beast, and anyone expecting long passages of dreamy acoustic will probably be kicked in the spleen. Having said that, the closing passage of ‘Incinerate’ leading into the lengthy ‘Spectral Pathways’ introduction swell shows Obsidian are just as capable of being patient as they are pummelling.
Obsidian is the type of dense death metal that only the Europeans appear to do well. It’s not by any means the most dynamic records, with the obvious troughs and peaks; the sheer opaqueness and churning violence of Obsidian, like their volcano-originating namesake, is their main draw; it’s an fascinating combination, but one not especially given to have critics shout their praises from the rooftops. Let’s hope they suddenly become one of those bands that have their profile catapulted to the fore while having an extensive back catalogue.
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