Black Death Horizon

Such an excessive portion of today's insurgent death metal spectrum seems to be frugal in the manner of originality, and hotheadedly persistent in sticking to much to the rules passed out by their monstrous descendants during the late 80's and early 90's that it's almost a chore to weed through the metric ton of releases and find something actually worthwhile. All told, as member of this beleaguered metal scene. And yet, does this mean that there have been absolutely no death metal masterpieces during the last decade or so? One would think so, after so much disregard of the aesthetic preferences of current acts have been held in consideration, but the subsequent appendages of bands like Necrovation, Repugnant, Horrendous, Morbus Chron and similar harbingers of death have been such malign and entertaining pastiches of old school fervor and tenacity that the banalities of the majority can easily be neglected. After all, while the genre is still being gradually carried forward by a group visionary bands, there is another, far more putrescent grouping in the underground that thrives on the love for the old school, and just the old school, being simultaneously awesome whilst doing so.

Hence, even with their squamous sophomore ''Nekropsalms'', Norway's Obliteration was not the most proficient contender to this particular end of death metal, though I have to say I did quite enjoy the buttery, gruesome death/doom palette that it so willfully flirted with. Some four years later, the Norse return with their most convincing anomaly yet; a putrid mass of slithering, unbridled murk straight from the pits of the nether: ''Black Death Horizon''. As a record whose name actually exemplifies the characteristic blend of early Autopsy, raw punk, Morbid Angel and early Death in it, ''Black Death Horizon'' is an excellent fucking trip down the quivering, cadaverous gateways of death metal, like some nostalgia trip with a little bit of everything. Let's just get something straight: this album is hands down one of the most morbidly attractive records in death metal I've heard in a good fucking while, and not solely in its pernicious mix of influences, but as an addictive piece of sensational ghastliness...

Everything in this record from its writhing, whammy-impregnated leads flying about to the searing range of unabashed tremolos to its Autopsy-esque death/doom gruesomeness is stark and evil, even majestic at certain points. My initial fondness for the record grew with a passion for the necromantic vocals. Imagine a random punk frontman singing over the wretched, pestilent inflection of Chuck Schuldiner or Martin Van Drunnen; and I even caught a tad of Robert Andersson of Morbus Chron in there. Of course, the ominous presence of the guitars make themselves abundantly clear to the awestruck listener's trembling ear. The guitars may be meaty and murky, the bass belching like the baritone of an incarcerated demon; but despite the seamless d-beat drumming and vile vocal ranging, the Norse sustain a gorgeously demoniac clarity in the production, so the listener is never really thrown into a pointless, meandering wall of sound. Indeed, the attributions of some of the riffs aren't as sharp hooks as some others like the serpentine tremolos leading ''Goat Skull Crown'', especially when the band vies for more straightforward black/death foray in the vein of Darkthrone (as on ''Transient Passage'') but with so much bloody material compressed into a delicious pulp, the listener is only seldom reminded of such deficiencies. The melodies as on ''The Distant Sun'' or ''Ascendance'' are superb, twisted whirlpools of bile and vitriol, with an obstinate sense of adherence to much of the projections that were present on the band's sophomore, and yet the band still keeps things interesting by constantly shifting between tempos and riffs. There is always a steady, building level of tension that feels as though it'll blow the pulp up to crimson pieces of volcanic shrapnel that simply doesn't dissipate until the last moment, even on the gloomy, liquescent ''Churning Magma''...

Thus, with all its aspects, ''Black Death Horizon'' lives up to its name with utmost potential and torturous adroitness, like the product of some blissful witchery by the misty peak of the sulfuric promontory of the excellent, excellent cover. By the time this record had run its course, I found myself bathed in blood and all the other gnarly ingredients these primordial sorcerers bestirred. Sure, ''Black Death Horizon'' does have its dull moments from time to time, as I felt some of the longer tracks like ''Transient Passage'' - though still crammed to the tits of with feculent goodness - and the title track dragged about a little too long than I might have preferred, and there too were certain sequences where I thought they were recycling some of the previous guitar work with scarcely a change in drum patterns, but the overall output of the record, as displayed with such tunes as ''Sepulchral Rites'' and ''Goat Skull Crown'' makes for some of the most disgustingly appealing death metal products of 2013. So rarely do retro death metal bands actually feel motivated about their cause of purveying evil and asphyxiating entire throngs with pyroclastic mounds of dirt that this album felt like one of the most thoroughly enjoyable discs of the year. You're not feeling it until you're caked with muck.

Highlights:
Goat Skull Crown
Sepulchral Rites
Transient Passage

Rating: 88%

Posted by: LaceratedArthalos
Source: www.laceratedthrashmetal.blogspot.ca

Call it a backlash against the free pass given to many overhyped second-rate second-generation Norwegian Black Metal bands of the 90's or whatever it may be, but since then there seems to have been an undercurrent of opinion to the effect that Norwegian Metal bands have had their creative bubble and can't do much other than rehash those glory days continually ad nauseam. Worse still is the opinion that because of their Black Metal heritage Norwegians “can't do” Death Metal, ignoring the unique efforts of Molested and early Darkthrone. For the most part, the naysayers do have a point, and certainly any truly groundbreaking Norwegian acts of the past decade have tended towards abandoning Metal altogether, but that even more so then makes Obliteration perhaps the most important Norwegian act in a long time. I doubt very much that disproving prejudices was high on the list of priorities for the band as they penned this beast of an album, but nevertheless this has the requisite power to slap those people upside the head anyway and to start taking stock of dark rumblings from Oslo again.

It is 4 years since Obliteration's last album, Nekropsalms, was released and although there is more in common with these two efforts than there is to differentiate them (so don't be expecting a Tribulation or In Solitude-sized stylistic shift!), those 4 years have still clearly been spent honing and refining the Obliteration craft. This album is absolutely insane in terms of its complexity, each of its 7 songs a finely tuned weapon of torturous sonic punishment. If you heard either of their previous records and wrote them off as yet another Autopsy/Asphyx-clone then prepare to have your eyes and your cranium forcibly and painfully wrenched open. Indeed there are influences on the riffing from both and a rumbling, classic production that will appeal to fans of those bands too, but that is where the similarities end. There may be not much in the way of overt technicality on this album, but the focus on sonic layering and compositional complexity is very impressive, calling to mind the likes of Demilich and Phlegethon, as well as Carbonized and even Voivod.

Where Obliteration's strength lies and what their unique style seems to be built on is the sense of uncanniness in their music- everything here is at once familiar and also unsettlingly different. Take the mystical early-Tiamat like guitar tone on “Ascensance (Sol Invictus)” and opener “The Distant Sun (They Are The Key)”, the Morbid Angel-esque soloing on “Sepulchral Rites” or even just the Severed Survival-like riffing from throughout- everything is warped like clay into some new Obliteration-shaped form. The paths of influence are fairly clear and visible here, but quite how it all ended up sounding this strange and demented is something else. There is even hints of some of the stranger mid to late 90's Metal experimentalism going on too, like the almost choral/chanted vocals on “Goat Skull Crown” that puts me in mind of late 90's Mystifier, but without sounding dated like those period curiosities.

If you are expecting just another Autopsy-meets-Asphyx rehash then you might find this a challenging listen, and even for those who know what Obliteration are about might not find this an easy ride either. The vocals in particular are not designed with ease of listen in mind in their early At The Gates-style tortured breathlessness, but once this clicks and you get suckered in to its nightmarish vibe it is a thoroughly rewarding experience. Even those who think they know how ugly Death Metal can get may still feel their skin crawl at that nasty opening riff to “Churning Magma” and there is dozens more nuances like it on this record. This is like an art gallery, or a house of horrors full of distorted Death Metal treasures and curios- every listen unveils some new nastiness lurking. For that reason I think this is an album many of us will still be talking about in years to come. [9/10]

From WAR ON ALL FRONTS A.D. 2013 zine- www.facebook.com/waronallfronts

Norwegians Obliteration come with quite the underground reputation these days following recommendations from a few noteworthy figures in the scene and by luck of residence in Kolbotn, a town put on the metal map by one Darkthrone, as well as their shared membership with the equally hyped Nekromantheon. As I commented in the review of their "Rise, Vulcan Spectre" last year, the music of these two bands is so unequivocally borne from a bunch of metal obsessives as to put much else currently being released today to shame (I might add the two bands do share members). It may not be the tidiest or best-written album of the year, but it simply oozes fire, passion and commitment; facets which alone make the album worthy of recommendation to any death metal fan worth their salt. For all DM's predilection for clinical speed and brutality, nothing quite sounds the real deal as does a dirty, unpleasant album devoid of triggers and over-production. Not surprisingly this cocktail is often the deal breaker for fair-weather fans of the genre to take their leave; if that is not you, do read on.

The slow, doomy opening to "The Distant Sun (They Are The Key)" is disconcerting - it breeds anticipation of the pounding that is soon to follow. This increase in tempo is one of the charms of Obliteration, who do much more than stagnate at one tempo throughout, the benefit of which is how the slow periods emphasise the fast, and vice-versa, to prevent the album from waning throughout a 42-minute duration as well as giving a feel of the sum being greater than it's eight parts. "Goat Skull Crown" which begins at a higher tempo pulsates with its references to old Kreator and the likes before slowing down in the middle section with eerie chord combinations that Tribulation have used very much to their favour. During this break the usual throaty snarl of Sindre Solem is temporarily replaced by clean choral 'spooky' vocals that do their bit to persuade the listener Obliteration might just be up to something here. "Sepulchral Rites" is a blaze of intent which like much else balances out the two buzzing guitars with a distinctly audible bass sound against the various drum rolls performed by Kristian Valbo, facets whose power would have been greatly reduced by a stereotypical modern production. As it is, the changes in speed dotted throughout this song raise the quality of writing so far above the norm for a band of this genre that it would be embarrassing to refer a number of big name DM acts of today against these young Norwegians.

The title track takes a slower approach to deathly victory, making it's near eight minutes pass in a blur before the finger-tapping lead that opens the albums' final track, "Churning Magma", chills the air with its gloomy premonitions leading into an ominous closing ceremony for the album. With just seven tracks each feels like the result of considerable revision and battle-hardened ambition with very little in the way of filler to be found. The focus of "Black Death Horizon" is as much forwards as the more obvious backwards analysis it displays - the considerable nods to death and thrash metal's pasts are combined with a focus on individuality and performance which sees the album excel in almost all stakes. Death metal was borne to sound like this nearly 30 years later.

Originally written for www.Rockfreaks.net

So, what exactly constitutes a great death metal album in the year 2013? In the 80s, the answer was pretty clearly defined as a record that was frightening, shocking, or breaking new ground through the guttural vocals and increased intensity of thrash techniques. In the 90s, technicality and progression took over, not to mention a bunch of bands attempting to lyrically out-sicken one another. In the 00s, it was studio polish, groove, cross-genre pollination and ultimately, the inevitable slowing down of the innovations that got us there. As for the 20teens, well thus far they've seen the cannibalization of all prior decades, whether in conjunction or in specific worship of a particular scene or trend. So I am forced to adjust my initial answer. A great album, in any epoch, is one that you fucking enjoy. While I'm not ruling out the fact that small nuances and innovations are still trickling into the genre, a great album in 2013...is one that you fucking ENJOY, and don't let any message board Gestapo or cliquey checklists of 'cool' attempt to convince you otherwise. You don't want to be 'cool', friends, you want to be death metal. As your daemonic counsel, I must insist!

Black Death Horizon is an album that I really, really fucking ENJOY. It's an anomalous, oppressive 42 minutes of proto-death metal influences churned in a vat, stirred to a relish-like composition and then served to you on a rotten bun. It cultivates everything from a raw punk and thrash inspiration to dismal, doomy Autopsisms and Incantationality while marginally altering the strategy of the prior two Obliteration full-lengths, both of which I also...really ENJOYED. It's not quite so brutal and direct as the debut, nor so slimy and squamous as the sophomore Nekropsalms, but more like an atmospheric ritual being evoked on a hellish mountainside where the trees have all been burnt clean by volcanic activity. Caldera metal?!? I want full credit for that. Of course, Black Death Horizons, like almost any death metal record you're like to hear in 2013, is really just a combination of precursor components configured into a slightly new way. Broiling tremolo-picked patterns burst from stretches of moody, death/doom disdain that subsist off dank, uneasy harmonies, and d-beat rhythms weave an undead thuggishness...and happiness is nowhere near at hand, with any and all melodic sensibilities confined to discomfort. Even the leads roil about aimlessly and excitedly like plumes of molten spunk being fired off into the cervix of the ash-caked sky, and ultimately, the Norwegians pulls off what so many bands cannot: a death metal record that actually SOUNDS evil.

It's not excessively catchy beyond just a handful of riffing progressions (like the Arabesque tremolo guitars in "Sepulchral Rites"), but it's brutally functional and persistent due to a number of employed techniques. For one, the vocals here are howled and grating rather than disciples of the typical guttural blueprint. I'm not sure how many takes it took Sindre Solem beyond the first to finish off each tune, but they sound so genuine and tormented rather than clinical, brickwalled and forced. Just the right level of reverb, and a rawness of feeling which guarantees variety in almost any line or chorus. Another is the voluminous, distorted bass lines that provide a bulkiness against the more straightforward clarity of the rhythm guitar chords. This creates a base ugliness to the proceedings that recounts some of the murk of the sophomore, but complements rather than contrasts the airy hostility of Torp's axemanship. Also, props to this guy for his constant feeling about the fretboard, a parity explored through all the layers and textures of higher strings employed far more often than banal open chord chugging. Black Death Horizon is not an album of breakdowns, but a movement from one bleak ritual to the next which occasionally deigns to rock your goddamn socks off. It's such a natural flow to it that it sounds the natural throughput of twisted minds, not the meticulous mosh hymnal you'll find of most modern death metal. Thus, this fully falls into the 'retro' or 'nostalgia' camp without obeying the rules.

Also have to complement the drumming, which shifts between warlike, sparse cadence to a more black metal based combination of snares and kicks through the blast-work. The title of this record is no joke, I do actually feel like fans of older Mayhem, Marduk and Darkthrone will get just as much a kick out of this effort as those seeking another Altars of Madness, Onward to Golgotha or Mental Funeral. There's an unpredictable nature about how they've written this (much like the second album) that keeps it fresh and frightening throughout, and the bonus atmospherics like cleaner chanted vocals and ominous droning throat passages show an ethnic flexibility in musical influence that promises the unusual. Not that they're the first group to pull this off, but they do it with restraint...never seeming out of place or like some shallow stab at sounding 'different'. Black Death Horizon makes as much sense musically as a fiery cataclysm that ends civilization by blanketing the firmament with a blanket of soot. In listening, you can just hear all the humans choke through their final moments as they reach forth to touch any glimpse of a glittering star beyond the hazy death beyond their reach. The lucky ones will be disintegrated in magma, but not you, fair listener...no, you will suffocate until the very end, watching your neighbors and loved ones perish. That's the sound of one kickass death metal disc, venner.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

There were times during listens to this album when I had to double-check it was released in 2013 – and that’s meant as a compliment. It’s easy to feel that much of what passes for death metal today has forgotten about where the genre came from in the 80s, and that it instead means ever-increasing technical proficiency, vocals that are getting lower and lower, and abandoning concepts like “riffs” and “song-writing” in favour of show-boating. Cool arpeggio sweeps, bro. Too bad I can’t remember how the song sounded once you were done – or was it just a collection of breakdowns and technical wankery?

Obliteration are guilty of absolutely none of the above. What they have created instead is an album that reminds the listener of just why 80s death metal was so great, and that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with continuing to play in that style. It feels very appropriate that Relapse are releasing this in the US. Why reinvent the wheel if the original form was so perfect? Which in itself begs the question: why bother with such retro-minded bands if classics like Mental Autopsy are always just a listen away? To which the answer is the album itself. There’s nothing really original here, but what there is instead is 42 minutes of 80s style death metal with a few modern updates that is worthy of any fans time.

It gets started in ominous enough fashion. The Distant Sun kicks off with 3 and a half minutes of building tension, heavy with atmosphere and dread, over which proclamations of doom ring out with some truly desperate vocals. It sets the tone perfectly, bringing to mind images of death, doom, and well, obliteration. This is death metal for a world of death. And after the pace is picked up and the band blaze ahead, it should be clear that if you’re in to this style then you’re in for a treat, and if not then the exit is over there. It’s your loss.

The album is not the bone-headed, one-dimensional headbang-athon that titles like “Goat Skull Crown” and “Churning Magma” might suggest. In amongst all the traditional death metal brutality there’s some truly great moments of tension and release, and the band demonstrate some great song-writing skills as well as enough talent to make this style their own. Witness the mid-tempo section just over one minute in to the aforementioned Goat Skull Crown (which, let’s face it, is a fucking great name for a death metal song), or the mock-operatic vocals two minutes in to the same song. And that’s to say nothing of the blistering solo a minute later. The bass drums playing triplet notes during Transient Passage are especially unsettling. Each song has enough shifts and changes to keep things interesting and fresh on the whole, and though there is the odd moment of over-familiarity – especially with the intros – it’s more down to an adherence to the style they play than the band running out of ideas. There’s occasional moments of deviation from a wholly death metal template, such as the almost black metal tremolo-picking on some songs, and there’s plenty of moments that remind you of the original link between death and thrash metal, but there’s no mistaking what the band play.

A further point worthy of praise is the vocals. They sound truly unhinged throughout the entire album, bringing to mind the dabbler in the occult who knows too much, or the last, broken-minded witness of some atrocity. They’re not your typical death metal grunts, and the album is stronger for it.

At 42 minutes, the album is just the right length to hold attention, and though it certainly beats the listener over the head with its death metal attack, it doesn’t insist on over-staying its welcome or completely beating the listener to a pulp. It’s not flashy, and it’s not the most original metal album you’ll hear this year – or possibly even this week – but nor is it intended to be. What it is is utterly brutal (but not br00tal, you dig?) and primitive, yet also enjoyable in a way that only 80s-style death metal can be. If you’re in to this sort of thing then it’ll have you headbanging long in to the night. If not? I don’t know what to say. I mean, you do like death metal, right? Right? Oh.

Originally written for http://thesoundnottheword.wordpress.com/

Obliteration are a four piece death metal band from Kolbotn, Norway (yes, the same Kolbotn that sprouted the legendary Darkthrone). Formed in 2001, the band has crept onto the radar of many a death metal fan with their first two full length albums, 2007's “Perpetual Decay” and 2009's “Nekropsalms”. If you listened to their previous work, then you you know that the band has slowly been injecting more and more old school vibes into their music that can only be described as rotten, filthy and decadent in the most vile and putrescent form. The band's sophomore release turned many a heads with strong nods to Asphyx, Morbid Angel and Autopsy during a nausea-inducing trip through a rotting midden pile. Returning in 2013 with “Black Death Horizon”, Obliteration once again rip through layers of filth with a new take on dirty, vile and filthy old school death metal.

“Black Death Horizon” continues exactly where “Nekropsalm” left off. If nothing else, the band's music feels more vile and rotten than before. The music is dirty and necro death metal along the likes of what Incantation has been doing for years: doom-laden tempos which build into skull crushingly heavy riffs and an overall feeling that you've just visited a long forgotten crypt. Listen to “Ascendance (Sol Invictus)” for an example of how fluently Obliteration changes gears from smothering dirges into fast-paced thrash beats with soaring speed metal solos and into Morbid Angel inspired blasting. Tracks like “Transient Passage” and “Black Death Horizon” summon an extremely heavy, chugging approach at some points which sound heavy enough to knock over a wall. Every single track is like that here, though; each track has it's own sound yet still rips you through several layers of hell on the trip. The bass lines are dirty and pummeling, with a fuzzy, almost stoner feel, constantly driving the music forward as the drums alternate between blasting and thrash inspired double kick rhythms. Indeed, there is a lot of influence scattered throughout this album; like most bands sticking true to the old school feel, there are moments of Celtic Frost worship and hints at Venom's punked up style. The music sounds filthy and grimy enough, but what really places this album into the nether reaches are the tortured vocals of Sindre Solem, which sound like they were dredged up during some type of necromantic ritual. They're harsh, while still understandable, and just ooze old school charm.

I can hear the detractors and naysayers now, “But this isn't anything new! Lulz. We've heard this all before.” Yes, I'm sure you've heard death metal's greats belting out some of the most legendary albums of all time. I'm also sure that you've heard a lot of bands attempting to summon those sounds and failing horribly (at least I have). Obliteration is the real deal, though; not some hackney attempt at being cool. These guys may be young, but they will give any long running, old school death metal band a run for their money. “Black Death Horizon” is the aural equivalent of cracking open a sarcophagus and accidentally breathing in the dust just as you get the lid open. The entire album is covered with a layer vile sludge that was dredged up from the bottom of a midden pile, but it's not rehashed or recycled. It's quite a feat, but Obliteration's music is decidedly old school and vile, but it manages to sound fresh and energetic instead of tired and worn.

If you want to listen to rehashed, recycled garbage, leave now. If you want to have your senses dragged through the burial mound, this is where you start. “Black Death Horizon” will leave you little time to brush the dust and cobwebs from your face as you get pulled, feet first, through layers of filth and vile rottenness. If you worship at the throne of Asphyx, Incantation or Autopsy, this is for you. Obliteration will assault your senses and leave you feeling filthy and violated. This is how death metal should sound...

Written for The Metal Observer:
http://www.metal-observer.com