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DEATH OBVIOUS “Death Obvious”
DEATH OBVIOUS “Death Obvious”
By Dr. Abner Mality
The only thing “obvious” about this band is that they are playing extreme metal. After that, all bets are off. I had a marked dislike for the band name before I ever heard a note but tried to not let that influence me.
Whew! This is uneasy listening for sure. “Mercury Off Axis” begins with such a flood of cacophony that I wasn’t sure if I could make it through the song, much less the album. But the caterwauling eventually develops more form and structure, although it is still unbearably grim in feeling. Could you imagine a mash-up of BLUT AUS NORD, GORGUTS and DISEMBOWELMENT? If you listen to “Death Obvious”, you won’t have to, it will be busy invading your skull. There’s a queasiness to some of the riffs that reminds me of BLUT AUS NORD’s horrific old album “Mort”, mixed with the warped dissonance of GORGUTS. On top of that are some of those twangy single notes that DISEMBOWELMENT was known for, along with a very doomy, soul-crushing atmosphere. Even the faster riffs have a cavernous feeling of gloom.
“The Great Gate Theory” has a more straightforward doom feel and emerges as one of my favorites here. I wonder, if vocalist Lea Lavey a girl?! It sure doesn’t sound like it, but these days, who really knows? Elsewhere, “Total Heavenly Desolation” brings heaping helpings of GORGUTS style dissonance worship, “The Third Eye Burning” has echoes of DEATHSPELL OMEGA and “As Absence Expands Over Everything” has calm piano notes contrasting with absolute grinding heaviness to eerie effect. It takes an effort to absorb everything DEATH OBVIOUS throws at you!
Final track “Catechismus For The Plague” is the epic, throwing everything you’ve heard before at you plus a prolonged section of muted ambience pierced by shrieking black metal howls. When this album ends, it feels more like an escape than anything else. I still think the band name is dumb, but this is some of the bleakest, blackest metal out there.
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