Obscura

Oh, Semblant. I want to say that you're a great band, I really do. Instead, you have the potential to be fantastic, but you just piss on that possibility. I quite enjoyed most of the first half of Lunar Manifesto, and "Incinerate" is one of the best melodeath songs I've ever heard, but... Everything else on that album was so horrible, safe, stale, and ingenuine that I ultimately hated it. So, how does this album fare? Well, how do you this it's going to? Spoiler alert: This is just the last nail in the coffin for me when it comes to that.

The album starts off decently, but not quite as well as Lunar Manifesto did. They added some pianos, like in "Left Behind", and that much actually does sound great. In fact, there's a much bigger keyboard presence here, and I think that it's the best part of the album.

Mizuho sounds like she's trying harder, and her vocals have a lot more power and presence to them, though I do wish that she wouldn't do that all the time throughout the album. Give us a softer dynamic every once in a while, you know? We could've had this on "Porcelain", but she went for power again, and... Dear god, she's tone-deaf here. Her vocals, particularly in the chorus just sound like she's missing the notes. We get just a glimpse of her quieter, softer vocals in "The Hunter, The Hunger", and it's probably her best performance on the album. No joke. If anything, I actually think that she was much better than Sergio this time around. As for Sergio... I'm just not enjoying his vocals the same way that I did in Lunar Manifesto. He's more on the lower end of his range this time around, but it sounds so stock here. Some might've found his screams and whatnot annoying last go around, but I loved his vocals there. He had a fantastic range, but it feels like he's playing it safe here. Even then, his growls or whatever they are here just don't really sound good, and the screams he does every now and then... Man, they're probably the biggest disappointment of all. The vocals got really same-y on the second half of Lunar Manifesto, yes, but man are they same-y from the very beginning here, and the parts that were actually good on that album just aren't here. His vocals in "Wasteland" are just awful, and although it showcases the most of his range on this album, he's completely lost his touch. That, in and of itself, pisses me off immensely. I'll say one positive though: Sergio's clean vocals are pretty good here, and they remind me quite a bit of the gothic metal that they take some inspiration from. The exception is "Barely Breathing". It's like "Bursting Open" with worse vocals and better guitarwork. Honestly, I'd love to rip this horrible fucking song to shreds, but I don't care enough to do it again.

Speaking of, the guitarwork is the highlight of this album. This is where the passion lies, and it's great all around. It's a shame because if everything else had been up to the quality that Ribeiro's performance is, this would be an amazing album. The cleaner, softer guitars here sound just as good as his heavy and technical performances, and he makes the only really dynamic-sounding part of the album. Dare I say it, he and Augusto (Keyboards) carry the album on their backs because, otherwise, there isn't many praises that I can give to the band here. Thor's drumming is good, but it doesn't hold a candle to his performance in Lunar Manifesto. As for the bass... It's okay. Nothing much to say. Their old bassist was replaced, but it doesn't really amount to anything.

I'll take a brief moment to talk about "Daydream Tragedy". The guitarwork is at its best here. I absolutely love it to pieces. Even Mizuho and Sergio put in wonderful performances here. Despite being a clean ballad, it's so easily the best song on the album. It makes for a perfect closer, unless if you consider the bonus track, "Insomnia" (Which is one of the better tracks on the album) to be the closer, in which case, fuck. While I wouldn't return to any other song on this album, this is the shining star that I'll have on repeat. It's a truly beautiful song that I also want an instrumental version of because, dear god, it's just the best song by the band with only "Incinerate" as its competition. Even then, the two songs are so diametrically opposed, and I love that. It even sheds the band's normally edgy and laughable lyrics to be something wonderfully poetic. This is *the* song that you should listen to, and it's the least metal song on this album, being a hard rock ballad at the heaviest. I'm so glad that they've given this song more attention, with a 'lockdown version' that sounds just as fantastic as the studio version. Hell, I'd say that Sergio and Mizuho sound even better in that version. Do yourself a favor and listen to this song.

See, I was hoping that after six years, they'd return with a new fire. In a way, they did, but it fares about the way you'd expect and worse. See, they fixed the problem of just doing cleans only with subpar instrumentation in the second half of the album, but now they've lost touch with everything that they were good at. This hurts so much to hear because I want to love this. The guitarwork is the exception to my criticisms here, as Ribeiro is just phenomenal here, being better pound for pound than he was on Lunar Manifesto. Hell, this album is even full-on melodeath with a couple clean ballads. Thing is, I'd much prefer an album with fantastic moments amongst its abominations than an album which is okay or mediocre all across the board. In fact, if not for the guitars and keyboards, I'd have trouble even rating this a 25%. While I said that the band had great potential to be amazing in my last review, it feels like they've squandered it in these past six years, and that we've gone past the point of no return. I hate saying that Mizuho and Sergio are the weakest links— They are talented, and they can put in good performances, but it feels like they need to be given better vocal direction. That, and I hope Sergio's able to get his vocal chops back up to the way he was on Lunar Manifesto. It's a pipe dream, I know, but he's probably the most disappointing thing on this album, and I hate that. The band backing them can bring it. With Ribeiro and Augusto today and Thor on Lunar Manifesto, they would make for the dream team of a band that deserves the best vocalists that can front them. If anything, I could pair them with Mizuho today and Sergio on Lunar Manifesto (The first half), and that could add up to become one of the best melodeath bands today. Unfortunately, we just don't get that.

I've read a ton of reviews and comments giving this album heaps of praise, and honestly, I just don't feel it. The vocalists just don't pull their weight here, the drums are good at best, and the bass is adequate. That doesn't make for an 8/10 album, even if the guitars and keyboards are phenomenal. If all of the songs but two are completely banal and forgettable save for these two elements, why would you ever rate them that high? I don't think I'm being overly harsh, I'm just being realistic. I know that Lunar Manifesto got rather huge and was beloved, but it also received its fair share of justified (And in my opinion, correct) criticism. It seems like not nearly as many people have heard Obscura, but it feels like I'm the only one who's criticized it, and that's just baffling. It's not a good album just the same, and that much should be said. I guess others have been lucky enough to forget about Semblant. I probably won't. But who knows, maybe I'm in the wrong, and maybe this is actually a great album whose genius I'm too stubborn to see. I don't know. As it stands, I feel that I'm one of the few not blind to this album's incredibly glaring flaws, and that much needs to be talked about. Oh well. Here's to, hopefully, another six years. I don't have much hope for them to put out great music going forward. I was foolish enough to believe in their potential once.

Tracks to Recommend: "Left Behind", "Daydream Tragedy" (I guess if I had to give out a third, it'd be "Murder of Crows")
Tracks to Avoid: "Barely Breathing". No other songs are outright horrible, but aside from the two listed, they're all pretty damn boring and forgettable.