AKRÓASIS

Obscura went through a considerable line-up change in 2015 when both drummer Hannes Grossmann and guitarist Christian Muenzner left the band to pursue other projects. Since they were also composers for Obscura's material, it was unclear in which direction exactly they would head - the only indication was Grossmann's comment, saying that Kummerer wanted to go back into the musical direction of 'Cosmogenesis' rather than follow on in that of 'Omnivium'. Now that the new album has arrived I must say that I am really delighted with it. Sebastian Lanser (Panzerballett) surely is a force to be reckoned with on the drums and new guitarist Tom Geldschläger seems a worthy replacement of Muenzner. The album starts off with "Sermon of the Seven Suns" in the classic sound, quite similar to their well-known "Anticosmis Overload". With a nice balance between more quiet parts, impressive solos and stomping blast beats, all layered with the bright sound of Klausenitzer's bass, it is a nice start to the album sure to please fans of the Obsura sound. "The Monist" is a slower and more heavy-sounding song. It fits nicely between the very melodic "Akroasis" and mixed "Sermon of the Seven Suns". "Akroasis", which was released as a music video before the album's release date, perfectly blends melodic blast beats and excellent guitar playing by Tom Geldschläger. A true highlight for fans of melodic, yet technical death metal. "Ten Sepiroth" starts off with a quiet guitar intro, which soon turns into a fast death metal sound. Intense drumming by Lanser and well crafted transition between the parts make it a song that keeps the listener interested until the end. In the second half, the bass comes to the fore once more and creates a balance between a fast guitar solo and pounding drums. "Ode to the Sun" has a more heavy death metal sound to it with less melodic and lower guitar riffs. Its mostly kept at low speed, which gives it a very heavy sound, layered with robotic, almost ethereal sounding vocals in the middle. "Fractal Dimension" resumes the fast blastbeat sound, though not for long. Intersparsed with multiple guitar solos and a quiet guitar part in the second half, makes it a well-crafted technical death metal song, which does not become boring despite its length. "Perpetual Infinity" starts off quietly and incorporates the auto-tuned vocals already used in "Ode to the Sun". Then, through various shifts in its speed, it returns to a fast-paced death metal sound. "Weltseele" (anima mundi) is an ususually long song but a nice surprise, I think. It develops from a quiet guitar part to a slightly slower death metal blast, marked by multiple time shifts, but then returns to a quiet interlude, which even incorporates strings. From there it slowly returns to a heavier, more speedy sound only to finish on a quiet note.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this new effort by the band. It surely lives up to the standard set by the first records, though at times it could use some more variation with regards to the guitar riffs. The musicianship is flawless, as is the sound. Lyricwise it still revolves around the same cosmic themes, already present in the previous albums. Surely an album that should please fans of the Obscura sound.

"Akróasis" is the 4th full-length studio album by German death metal act Obscura. The album was released through Relapse Records in February 2016. It´s been 5 years since the release of "Omnivium (2011)" and in addition to a lot of touring the time has also been spend with a lot of lineup changes. In fact the only remaining member since the last album is band founder/guitarist/lead vocalist Steffen Kummerer. Lineup changes are not unusual for Obscura though, who have had quite a few prolific musicians in their fold throughout the years in artists like bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Pestilence, Mayan), drummer Hannes Grossmann (Necrophagist, Blotted Science, Eternity's End), bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Death, Sadus, Iced Earth), and guitarist Christian Münzner (Alkaloid, Eternity's End, Spawn of Possession, Necrophagist). The new guys in the lineup on "Akróasis" are bassist Linus Klausenitzer (who has actually played with the band since 2011), drummer Sebastian Lanser, and guitarist Tom Geldschläger.

Stylistically the album opener "Sermon of the Seven Suns" continues the technical/progressive death metal style of "Omnivium (2011)", but already on the second track "The Monist" things change a bit. It´s a darker track with deeper growling vocals, and an interesting approach to composition, harmony, and structure. It´s also generally a bit more stripped down and less layered than "Sermon of the Seven Suns", and that contrast continues throughout the album. Some tracks are quite sophisticated and layered, while others feature a more stripped approach. That doesn´t mean the latter type tracks aren´t technically challenging and compositionally complex, but it´s obvious Obscura have deliberately gone for a more "bare" sound on those tracks.

In the other end of the spectrum you have a track like the closing 15:15 minutes long epic "Weltseele", which is probably the band´s most ambitious composition to date. It´s an incredibly intelligent and varied track, which proves beyond any doubt why Obscura are widely regarded as one of the most prolific contemporary technical/progressive death metal acts on the scene. Yes it´s sometimes a bit too polished and lacking grit and rawness, but on the other hand they deliver their brand of death metal with great conviction and incredible skill. Some of the things played here are designed to make your jaw drop and succeed well in doing that. Fast-paced precision drumming, technical and predominantly melodic oriented death/thrash guitar riffs and solos, and the high pitched snarling and deeper growling vocals in front. The occasional robotic vocoder voice part is also a part of the soundscape (Cynic style).

"Akróasis" features a powerful, clear, and detailed sound production, which suits Obscura´s sound pretty well. The choice to remove some of the omnipresent layering of sounds on some of the tracks on the album, is really successful to my ears. It makes "Akróasis" a more varied listen than "Omnivium (2011)". Not necessarily a better or more consistent release than the predecessor but definitely more varied and occassionally also a bit more raw.

Upon conclusion "Akróasis" is yet another high quality technical/progressive death metal album by Obscura. Despite the many lineup changes and years between albums, Obscura have maintained their signature sound, but made just enough adjustments and little changes to said sound to not grow stale. The compositions are sophisticated, powerful, and intriguing, the sound production professional and detailed, and the musicianship is on a high level on all posts. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.