From This Day Forward

Not very known, not very listened in terms of progressive thrash/death from Canada immediately brings to mind one band that is particularly worth mentioning out - Obliveon! Yes, my dears, these are some of those about whom little is said in the context of a perfectly balanced cosmos in music (or music in cosmos), and who found their due applause only years later, and among a very small group. After all, what would Vektor be without Voivod and Obliveon? In any case, the beginnings of these second Canadian visionaries date back to 1987, under the correctly spelled name Oblivion, and after a series of demos and a change of name to Obliveon, their proper debut took place in 1990. That's when "From This Day Forward" was released - extremely intriguing and quite ahead of its time material.

The whole project is a very progressive and surprisingly professional look at extreme music, which was just before the Death, Atheist and Cynic opuses. And this is important because Obliveon, like Coroner, Watchtower or Sadus, was at the highest technical level before this type of trend grew on a slightly wider scale. And although I mentioned bands from very different parts of the globe, my point is that "From This Day Forward" perfectly combines thrash/death aggression and rawness with cosmic departures, complexity and compositional richness. Basically, the debut of these Canadians contains only seven songs, although their multi-threadedness and the number of hidden nuances mean that such material can be discovered for years and still surprises with something. Check out for example "It Should Have Stayed Unreal", "Fiction Of Veracity", the title track or "Droïdomized" and this will sufficiently reveal how extraordinary and unique this music is - full of twisted riffs, cosmic atmosphere, with huge dose of dynamics, deliciously extended bass, masterful solos, great vocals and death's feistiness. And the best thing is that in the context of such an extensive album, there is no over-editing or over-intellectualization of the material. What's more, Obliveon's debut is a perfect bridge between thoughtful progression and spontaneity.

"From This Day Forward" is therefore a must-have in the context of progressive and technical death/thrash metal and at the same time an album of the highest, world-class level. Obliveon's debut perfectly combines complex topics with those that are direct and focused on the aggressiveness. The only surprising thing in this situation is the album's status as having been (unfairly) forgotten or omitted. After all, there should be much more talk about masterpieces such as "From This Day Forward".

Originally on A bit of subjectivism...in metal