Customer Reviews

Cosmogenesis

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is definitely one of the best new releases I've come across in a good, long time. Obscura seemlessly melds technical death metal with more of a progressive element on this incredible album. There are a lot of harmonized guitar lines, blast beats, and death growls, but there also slower tempo moments that display a wider range of musicality and dynamism. There are some clean vocals, too, but they are definitely not operatic like Hammerfall or Blind Guardian. I think, actually, the vocalist is probably not the best singer, so the clean interludes don't offer anything mind-blowing in a melodic sense. Nonetheless, the clean vocals fit nicely into the mix.

By the far the most impressive element of this band and this album is the bassist. All too often the bass is but an afterthought in extreme music, melding inconspicuously into the background. Obscura, however, bring the bass right back to the main stage, a la Iron Maiden and Sadus. The bassist plays a 6-string fretless bass, and it is definitely an integral piece of Obscura's sound. The bass lines, fills, and (yes!) solos add so much to their music, and I think set them apart from a lot of mediocre bands.

This album is a must-listen for anyone who appreciates technical death metal, particurly the European bands, like Necrophagist and Pestilence. But I would also challenge those of you just discovering heavier music to check it out, too. Fans of God Forbid, Lamb of God, In Flames, Arch Enemy, and the like should be able to find something you'll like here.

If you were to chart the prevalence and quality of Heavy Metal I assume it would resemble the stock market's own charting of the Dow Industrial average. Throughout the late seventies and eighties, it seemed to shoot for the stars in a seemingly-unending upward spiral. But then the bubble burst like the anus of someone forcing back a laxative, and the metal went away, to be replaced by it's retarded cousin once removed: grunge. Later on would see the rise of the even more retarded "Nu Metal" and "Rap Metal". Then along came metalcore and the Heavy Metal coffin seemed to have it's final nail nailed into the proper nail slot.

But then!: Metal seemed to return from it's vacation, albeit with some crucial elements missing like some sort of vietnam vet returning home with no lower portions. Yes, far be it for me to criticize the quality of metal today, but it just sucks, plain and simple. Whereas the eighties was bathing in a sea of Slayer, Testament, Iron Maiden, and so many names I could fill the 10,000 character limit, today metal is filled with the horrendous stylings of craptacular outfits like Job For a Cowboy, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Killswitch Engage. Continuing our analogy of metal to the stock market, there is an obvious and undeniable crisis in the quality of Metal in our current time.

But Then!: Along comes a band by the name of Obscura. A moniker derived from the unusual-yet-likable album Obscura by a band known as Gorguts (guess what they like on their pizza). Hailing from the same place as Kreator, Destruction, and a million other german metal bands: Germany! Obscura blends the progressiveness of, say Death's Symbolic with the ferocity of,...I'm gonna go with Morbid Angel's Blessed are the Sick, and it rises above the horrible, smelly masses and lifts both middle fingers in a show of, "F*** you! We have talent." That totally made-up quote conveniently leads me to my next point: Obscura actually has a bassist!

You see, some metal bands and nearly all metalcore bands do not have a bassist. Sure, they might have some flat-rimmed-hat wearing doofus pounding out obscenely-detuned root notes, but they do not have a true bassist, in the more real sense of the word. Obscura, on the other hand, has the six-string fretless virtuosity of Jeroen Paul Thesseling, a musician professionally trained to hit every microtone to make your head bang and your skin crawl. He is one of those very few - in league with Cliff Burton, Roger Patterson, and Steve DiGorgio - a metal bassist with talent!

But this album has everything I could ask for in a metal album: fast, aggressive, complex riffs combined with amazingly shreddy, yet melodic leads, eerily shrieky and guttural vocals, audible and complex basslines that give the very idea of mere root notes the finger, and an instrumental that WILL raise the hair on the back of your back, or wherever you have hair.

This is an album you cannot listen to only once. to give it proper justice, you must give it another go to really discover all it has to offer. And every time you do, you will hear a bassline you missed or a riff you hadn't heard yet. And this album will amaze you, time and time again - until the Earth is left as a burned piece of rock and the sun has shrunk to the size of the moon, leaving the solar system in total darkness only broken by the distant waivering of the cosmos' flickering stars own destruction - or you die, whichever comes first.

This is one of the best death metal albums I've ever heard. They have the sickest rhythm section ever! The drummer is just mad-crazy on this album, and the bass player actually STANDS out, which most other bands' bassists usually fail to do. Plus he's playing a 6-string FRETLESS. I'm pretty sure he spent lots of time arranging his parts in this album (of course the same applies to all other members as well, haha). And the guitar work, pure beauty, if that can be used to describe a death metal album. Where lots of bands fail to be melodic AND brutal, Obscura shows them how it's done. They are one of those few bands that never get too repetitive nor boring, but are totally the complete opposite. Their melodies just make you crave more and more, so hitting the pause or stop button is a very difficult task when listening. I rarely find a death metal album like that anymore... One thing on this album that's a little different (in a good way of course) is in "Universe Momentum," at about 1:04 into the song there an acoustic passage with some dark, atmospheric classical elements. I love it when bands put in the most unexpected twists such as this. It gives the song a new perspective and totally fits.

As for highlights, I don't have any. The whole album all the way through is solid, I could play the whole thing through twice without getting tired of it. If you're into Necrophagist but can't take their sudden changes in structure into these weird jazzy passages (which I personally like, but to each their own), Obscura may be more up your alley. As a matter of fact, I read somewhere that the drummer and one of the guitarists played in Necrophagist for a while, so that may explain their sound a bit. Also, when I listen I can also hear hints of bands like Demons and Wizards (intro to "Orbital Elements") (yeah, an odd comparison, I know), Arch Enemy(?), and as someone mentioned in an earlier review, Death (most notably in "Incarnated," the verse reminds me of "Misanthrope").

I definitely recommend this to anyone who a fan of the mentioned bands above, or for someone looking for something new to hear. This is an essential for every metal collection... Not just "death" metal, but METAL collections. So what are you waiting for?! Buy it!!!

This album rocks. the guitar work is impressive and the fretless bass is a great addition. this band knows how to write technical death metal tunes without ever boring the listener. This bands creativity, songwriting, and skill, reminds me a lot Death. I highly recommend this album to anyone into metal and not just people into technical death metal.

I recommend this album. The songs are melodic, I can actually hear chord progressions, which is not the norm for death. Stellar performances by all musicians. I can actually hear the bass playing notes, on a fretless even.

The vocals have a bit of Gorguts style to them, which is a good thing.

100 percent quality brutal melodic death metal. Does brutal MELODIC death metal make sense? Obscura does.

If you are a fan of bands like Necrophagist,Pestilence, or Gorguts then Obscura is perfect for you because the band members of those aforementioned bands all play in Obscura now.Cosmogenesis is a mathematician's wet dream and any fan of metal will enjoy what these young german fellows have to offer. There is so much variety and progression in this cd to keep the avid metal fan interested and the fretless bass adds depth and texture to the songs while not being overdone.The Song "Anticosmic overload" is so intense that it might make you blow chunks the first time you hear it. The drummer is so spastic yet precise and the guitar is very yngwie malmsteem inspired apreggios and diminished runs scaling the fretboard all the way through. Other songs like "Incarnated" or the instrumental sound like a mix between Death or In Flames just more progressive(if that's possible)There is something for everyone to like here even if you don't like death metal.Americal metal with the exception of a few bands(Arsis, Mastodon)has lost it's originality lately which is why I listen to European stuff now. It's just better. Pick this album up and rock your face off.

I swear, this is truly some of the best modern technical death metal that I've listened to. Obscura's "Cosmogenesis" is simply put a flawlessly virtuoistic, and amazingly mindblowing technical death metal masterpiece that delivers all the goods, and it's also one of the best death metal releases of 2009 I might add. Whenever I listen to this album, I always feel like I'm being engulfed into some kind of dark yet beautiful cosmic universe or something like that. It has the absolute perfect blend of brutality and beauty, it's just amazing no questions asked. Obscura really reminds me alot of such great technical death metal bands like Necrophagist, Pestilence, Gorguts, and even Death (late period stuff), and of course the band's lineup on here does consist of some ex members of Necrophagist (guitarist Christian Muenzner and drummer Hannes Grossman) and Pestilence (bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling). The overall production on "Cosmogenesis" is simply flawless and perfect, and of course the band's musicianship is even more flawless and dynamic throughout this amazing album. Steffen Kummerer has insanely awesome vocals with a nice combo of eerily, creepy shrieks, and insane gutteral growls and roars, and also not to mention that both Kummerer and Christian Muenzner are a very dynamic duo on the guitars I might add. Together they lash out fast, aggressive, complexed riffage combined with awesomely shredding yet beautifully melodic and technical solos that will make every part of your face melt. Meanwhile drummer Hannes Grossman pummels and dazzles with his outstanding percussioning throughout the album, tons of mad, crazy blast beats and blistering double bass kicking, and of course Jeroen Paul Thesseling's basslines are just absolutely amazing, jaw dropping, and very complexed on here. His bass playing is what really stands out the most on this album, and did I even mention that Thesseling plays a 6-string fretless bass which is really cool. I can definately hear some Atheist, Iron Maiden, and Sadus influences in his bass playing style.

Now as far as highlights on this album go, to be quite perfectly honest, every song on here is a winner especially the first track "The Anticosmic Overload" which is a blistering and aggressive album opener as well as an instant favorite that kicks the album off with bang, and is later followed by "Choir of Spirits" which is another amazingly brilliant song that even features some clean vocals, as well as some great finger numbing basslines and a beautifully melodic and perfectly executed guitar solo and it's probably my favorite solo on the whole album too. The following tracks "Universe Momentum" and "Incarnated" both continue the sheer brilliance of this tech/death opus (with the latter track featuring some vocals that are somewhat almost reminiscent of the late, great Chuck Schuldiner, as well as some fast straight ahead thrashing double bass drumwork, excellent basslines, beautiful melodic guitar sections, and another amazing guitar solo), and meanwhile "Orbital Elements" is an amazing 5 minute plus instrumental piece of sheer stunning beauty and musical virtuosity. I also enjoy "Desolate Spheres" which features another one of my favorite guitar solos, as well as "Noospheres", and the title track "Cosmogenesis" which is truly the heaviest song on the album. Like I said before, there's really not one bad song on here, not at all, and to be perfectly honest, the whole album is definately worth listening to all the way through from start to finish.

Overall, I highly recommend Obscura's "Cosmogenesis" to absolutely anyone who has excellent tastes in great top notch technical death metal, and yes even fans of progressive music will love this as well since Obscura do have progressive elements in their sound. Trust me, this album will definately reach all of your highest listening expectations, and it also proves that Obscura are definately the future of technical death metal. Enjoy!!!

As first impressions always count for something, I was wowed by the cover art. Sometimes cover art is almost enough to make me buy the album. To be perfectly honest, I have never gotten into technical death metal...until now, that is.

This outstanding album has me panting to catch my breath but wanting more. This music does not compromise brutality for catchy melody. The guitar and bass solos are unbelievable. The vocals are insane roars.

One word of advice: Do not buy this album for the cover art. You may be a shade disappointed. If, however, you like brutal technical death metal or any other kind of extreme metal, go get this album right now. Turn up the volume very high and enjoy. After you have listened to the disc the whole way through, start over from the beginning, because you can't possibly experience all there is to hear from just one listen.

A few short passages of clean vocals break up the shredding guitars and death roars, but even these are not what you are expecting. When one may almost expect a Scar Symmetry-esqe vocal melody, what one instead hears is a highly distorted singing voice that catches the progressive background music and adds to the atmosphere while not detracting from the sheer brutality. When the album is over, you hardly remember these clean vocals.

If you like Necrophagist, Augury, The Faceless, or Decapitated, Obscura's brand of brutal technical death metal is right up your alley. Cosmogenesis gets 4.6/5 stars. Certainly a candidate for album of the year.

I realy give this album 4 1/2 stars. This is a great death metal album. The volcals sound awesome, nice brutal understandable growls. The music is very brutal (the way death metal should be) in a symophany type way. It's so technical, so perfect! This band is still not very well known, that's to bad, a lot of people are missing out on some very good music.

I grew up on death metal from the early 90's. Back when deathmetal was the real deal. Alot of bands have come and gone, and numerous genres have been accumilated in this day and age..Which brings us to Obscura.....to me it's like a cross between Death, Carcass, and something more melodic like Cynic. The bassist kicks much a$$. I like the album as a whole....instead of blastbeating the hell out of the whole album, they throw these tasty litttle melodies in there to add to the mix. Some might not like it, but if you are an open-minded deathmetal conissuer, then you will appreciate the stylings this band has to offer........Try them out!!!!!