Founded in 2005, Indian company Transcending Obscurity has grown from a small pr-business to a worldwide acclaimed metal label. Their output is hugely impressive and many of their albums are unique masterpieces. The hardworking people behind the label do everything in their power to spread the word of extreme metal to the audience in a convenient and friendly way. We get heaps of mails from them, promoting new albums, but we don't always get the chance to pull them from beneath the massive pile of albums to be reviewed. So, to show our respect and support, we thought a big ass Brieviews Special would be a great idea. Here is a selection of fine tunes from Transcending Obscurity but feel free to browse their bandcamp and find whatever suits you. I'm damn sure you will...
Crawl - Rituals
death metal
|
Swedish death metal trio Crawl delivers some intense and rancid death metal. With an unforgiven sounds, grinding guitars and deep growls, this band pays homage to the glory days of Swedish death metal. Dismember comes to mind, and to me that is a good thing. The nine songs here are short but effective, little but fierce assault on your eardrums and neck muscles. My favorite is 'The Stench' but I'm damn sure that every self respecting death metal fan can easily appreciate this massively convincing old school sound. It comes in a wide variety of editions too so check it out.
|
Lurk - Fringe
doom / sludge metal
|
Finnish doomers Fringe do something very interesting with elements from sludge metal, atmospheric/funeral doom and death metal. On 'Fringe' they take the listener onto a dark and mysterious path which featured unheard sounds and unknown emotions. I think this album needs a few consecutive listens to fully understand and thus appreciate. Yet, once you're into this awes inspiring sound by Lurk, everything else seems to lose its importance. With masterful doom tracks like 'Reclaim' and 'Proteus Syndrome' these Fins are on their way to doom-stardom. Heads will be banged, no doubt about that.
|
|
Sathanas - Necrohymns
black metal / thrash
|
American black thrash metal legends Sathanas return with their tenth album, and what a monster it is. In eight furious tracks and with a filthy sound, Sathanas destroy pretty much everything in their path. There is nothing pretty, atmospheric or melodic to be found here, only filthy, dehumanizing and putrid blackened thrash metal, highlighting multiple times. 'Throne Of Satan' is my favorite track here, a neck muscles assaulting and exe wielding piece of extreme metal that is just too intense to be ignored. 'Harbinger Of Death' is an excellent second and all the others come in a good third place. Hailz!!!
|
Gaerea - Unsettling Whispers
black metal
|
These aren't all whispers but this is certainly an unsettling piece of work. Hailing from Portugal, Gaerea seems to become one of the most interesting acts in the current black metal scene. The music balances on the edge between a dark mind and outbursts of utter insanity. The overall atmosphere is bleak, bleaker than most bands on this planet deliver today. I guess that's quite the achievement. Opening with the soul crushing 'Svn' and followed by the magnificent 'Absent', this album maintains a high level of quality. For cathartic black metal fans, this is an absolute must have, no doubt about that.
|
|
Down Among The Dead Men - ...And You Will Obey Me
death metal / crust
|
Transcending Obscurity also brings people together. Members of Ursinne and Paganizer found each other on the label and decided to create a brutal blend of death metal and crust punk. The result is '...And You Will Obey Me' by Down Among The Dead Men, an album that will get every extreme party started. This already seems to be their third album and it's a fucking blast. Riffs that can saw your limbs of, drums that drill holes in your stomach and guttural growl that tear your soul apart, what else can an old school death metal adept possibly need? Be warned, this CD might devour the rest of your collection...
|
Sadistik Forest - Morbid Majesties
death metal
|
If any of your intestines are still intact after the previous death metal assault, be sure to check out Finnish horde Sadistik Forest and their unforgiving 'Morbid Majesties' album. Behind this alien and deadly cover art lies a vile world, occupied by flesh eating monstrosities and malignant viruses. This album truly is a smasher, coming at you in vintage Finnish tradition, which means speed, growls and pummeling drums. Here, 'The Hour Of Dread' is my personal favorite but again, every self respecting death metal fan should get his hands on a copy of this thing. Death is among us and it's blazing...
|
|
Nigredo - Flesh Torn - Spirit Pierced
black metal
|
From death to black, courtesy of Greece dissonant combo Nigredo and thier 'Flesh Torn - Spirit Pierced' album. Quite often driving on hyperspeed, this album crawls, gnarls and punches like a raging madman. Forget about atmosphere, forget about melodic passages. This is simply a machine gun to the face, one with extremely dark intentions. The suffocating 'Choronzon Possession' is my personal favorite on this record. Yet, I think these guys might truly rise at live performances. The music here is perfectly suited to impress and overwhelm audiences everywhere.
|
Arkheth - 12 Winter Moons Comes The Witches Brew
black metal
|
For a place that doesn't exist (*), Australia comes up with some highly interesting music. Take this album by black metal experimentalists Arkheth for example. With elements from all kinds of styles, ranging from krautrock to darkwave, jazz and black metal they managed to create a fantastic sound. This is musical ingenuity at its finest and most talented. Most of the stuff isn't even that extreme here but is sure is mystifying and mesmerizing. For me personally, Arketh might be one of the most interesting things in today's black metal business and perhaps way beyond that too.
|
|
(*) Apparently, flat earthers now claim that Australia is an elaborate hoax. (read)
De Profundis - The Blinding Light Of Faith
death metal
|
Formed in 2005 De Profundis have been carving out their own path in the death metal world with brutal conviction. This new album, their fifth to date, resembles and denounces the vile atrocities mankind has been indulging in over the ages. That obviously results in an intense but melodic and immersive death metal album, highlighting in songs like opener 'Obsidian Spires' and the fearsome 'Martyrs'. I think fans of De Profundis will easily appreciate this work but I also think that it will gain the band a whole bunch of new headbangers. Well deserved too because this album is a punisher.
|
Depravity - Evil Upheaval
death metal
|
Today, death metal can be pretty much everything, from keyboard loaded symphonic versions to groovy death 'n roll tunes over progressive experiments. Not so with Australian horde Depravity. For them, death metal should be a punishment for the senses (possibly for being wrong all the time), not a pleasurable thing to listen to. So they recorded 'Evil Upheaval' a nine track album that wants to bath in your blood, feed on your growing insanity and defecate in your pretty little lifestyle. With a massive fuck-you attitude, Depravity created a mass murderer, and you'll fucking love it...
|
|
Greytomb - Monumental Microcosm
black metal
|
Issuing a massive and intense sound, Australian horde Greytomb is about to become a new star on today's blackened firmament. Their music is an immersive and haunting blend of bleak black metal and atmosphere post rock with elements from doom and death metal often being welcomed. The result is a three track album that feels like a tremendously emotional inner journey. Expect lengthy depressive passages, a bunch of saturating blastbeats and a wide array of vocals, screams and grunts. Once again, I think this stuff is best suited for live performances, although some of the audience members might leave the gig in a white van...
|
Jupiterian - Terraforming
doom / sludge metal
|
Right, time to take it a bit slower and on Transcending Obscurity that immediately takes me to Brazilian doomers Jupiterian. With riffs and soundscapes so thick you can float on them, these guys deliver a masterful album. This is just as heavy as it's psychedelic, which again makes me want to experience this stuff live. The title track featured Maurice from Gnaw Their Tongues, which is nice but Jupiterian doesn't need guests to convince, all they need is tunes like 'Unearthly Glow' or 'Sol' and an audience to overwhelm. If you're a fan of sludge doom, you need this. Believe me...
|
|
Warcrab - Scars of Aeons
sludge / death metal
|
Combining the torpid speed and riffing of sludge metal with the deadly drums and growling vocals of death metal, Warcrab delivers a tank resembling album. I hear elements from Crowbar, Bolt Thrower, Fear Factory and Dopethrone but most of all I heard a massive blast of destructive energy coming from my speakers. 'Destroyer Of Worlds' is my personal favorite but the huge 'Scars Of Aeons' is definitely a live favorite. In all, this is a crushing album, one that will roll over you until every fibre in your body is pressed into the floor. And once again, I'm sure you will enjoy the abuse.
|
Norse - The Divine Light Of A New Sun
black metal
|
Norse returns with another slab of "ugly music". In my previous review for these Australians, I wrote about the harshness and dissonant approach of 'Pest' (read) and, believe it or not, they managed to take that sound to new level. Norse does not deliver normal, usual or common black metal. Nope, their style is unique, loaded with unusual hooks and riffs. This is both a challenge to listen to and a masterpiece of avant garde music. There is not one single non-highlight to be found here, only pain, desolation, discomfort and isolation. In short: what an album, un-fucking-believable.
|
|
Somnium Nox - Terra Inanis
black metal
|
And we finish this special with a glorious return from black metal horde Somnium Nox. They appeared on Brieviews 6 and now come back with an absolute stunner. Three tracks, loaded with skin crawling riffs, eerie screams and a bleak, downbeating atmosphere, this album should lift these guys to the absolute top of the blackened scene. Somehow Somnium Nox have managed to complete and evolve their particular blend of post-black metal to absolute perfection. I am incredibly impressed by this effort and I'm sure many of musical extremists will be as well. So, get your hands on this thing now.
|
Serge
