COSMOGENESIS

Very, very excited to be here. Honestly feel like a fraud for not getting into Obscura sooner, as they always felt like a band right up my alley, specific, of course, to Tech Death (and at this rate, essential Prog Metal). Hailing from Germany, Obscura released Cosmogenesis, their sophomore album, in 2009... I had no idea about this sort of thing in 2009 haha. And to think that it was, in its fullest glory, already very much a thing for about 20 years then. Grateful to be here, or really anywhere I've been across the musical landscape, now.

And with the start of our opener, "The Anticosmic Overload", all I could do was, audible to all in the room (my partner and her dog haha), say "Woah". Very interesting indeed. Big intensity and... unique?! This feels indeed like a cool, special mix of different Extreme Metals. And super groovy, too. In its simple melody, it's seemingly rhythmically complex. The drummer is killer--along with guitarist Christian Münzner, drummer Hannes Grossmann had previously been in Necrophagist(!)-- a steady force, and the bassist plays most melodically and interestingly, sorta a la Sean Malone [bassist Thesseling was, I'm learning, moreso Malone's contemporary than he was inspired by him]. And then this bridge is.... Wow... Did I mention I am stoked to be here today? haha.

"Choir of Spirits" is... intense. 'Nuff said? I will say that I like the variation in vocal styles. But for this track, speaking of vocals, more Cynic-isms?! Sounds like a tad bit of clean, vocoded vox like Paul Masvidal, and featuring a truly wicked, beautifully bizarro solo from ex-Cynic guitarist Tymon Kruidenier (not a name I recognize, frankly). Simply put, though, this track got better and better. "Universe Momentum" pauses throughout for a whole slew of modes: Opeth-esque acoustic section, then returning but with blitzkrieg-like quickness, only to morph some more in grace, virtuosity and melody... Good God! This is heaven! So much going on here. Seldom do Technical Death Metal bands have this much sonic diversity. The Proggiest.

Moving on along, we get more homage on "Incarnated", this time in rightful Shuldiner worship. And that is a damn compliment. These guys have so much more than chops and the best of influences. They have taken what is precedent and ran with it. Another incredible track. Everything I could have ever desired from Obscura is reality. Praise be! In turn, "Orbital Elements" is in stark juxtaposition, reaching out into a sweet yet cold feeling, its intro featuring acoustic arpeggios and clean guitars. To reiterate something I suggested earlier, their drummer is fantastic. An instrumental number, "Orbital Elements" also showcases insane, and crazy unusual soloing from our bassist, Jeroen Paul Thesseling, I would say most notably appearing on Pestilence's Fusion-meets-Tech-Death classic album Spheres (1993).

Speaking of spheres, "Desolate Spheres" brings us right on back into max brutality. Nice riffage overall and then some killer, eventually highly melodic soloing. Lovely stuff, much to our surprise from the start. Continuing in classic Tech Death mode, the battering rhythm on "Infinite Rotation" breaks way to some really satisfying riffs and faily unusual, angular melody lines. Pretty groovy, aided by the warm slink of the fretless bass. And then some rarer clean vocals on our mid-section bridge (they distort into a dreamy, unhuman warble as the track closes). Sort of Iron Maiden-type riffs going on here in the middle as well. Plenty going on here. Then we have a really sweet, alluring intro on the next, "Noospheres". Cynic-esque vocoder returns on this one, matched with beefy death growls. Such an interesting choice, though we know it to be not unfounded. Not gonna be for everyone, but I think it's a very cool effect, generally. The song itself, though, perhaps oddly enough, only does so much for me. They're great musicians, a fantastic team, but this is far from previous heights and highlight material.

In the finality of the album, we have our title track, "Cosmogenesis", a return to that brutality last heard on "Desolate Spheres". Some unusual, even claustrophobic rhythms on this'n... Like all throughout this track. It's very intense. Marvelous? Sure. But overwhelming a lot of the time. Finally we have "Centric Flow", our notably longest track at over 7 minutes. And it is starting off at 100%. It softens to a lighter groove only to return to max-heft. Woah... Nearing minute 3 is this wild guitar duet. Soaring, bright notes, more or less unusual to the genre, I feel. Hereafter, we have a return to acoustic guitar and clean outputs. A softening, if you will, warming us up for a slow build featuring smooth drumming and chunky, classic Metal riffage. Very cool, effective outro to the album. Fade to black.

All that said, as suggested above, I am so excited to hear more.

True Rate: 4.25/5.00