To Violate the Oblivious

Certainly one of the most relevant Depressive Black Metal artists Malefic (Scott Coner) brought another dense and deep work with "To Violate the Oblivious", another work by Xasthur, an authentic and striking band for Black Metal lovers, however an unknown to many, both in the sound and in the depth of his music and poetry.

The peculiar characteristics of Xasthur are there, the dissonant guitar arrangements under several layers that form a chaotic and sinister orchestra, the synthesizers that embody fear, sadness, hatred and a fourth feeling that I consider more interpretive from the listener, a feeling that in mine perspective brings a solemnity that sometimes becomes grandiosity, another important aspect is Malefic's vocals, powerful, heartbreaking and despairing as always.

The downside is the programmed drums, which despite not being so noticeable most of the time, it still sounds artificial, if Xasthur had an acoustic drum job it would make a lot of difference and certainly the band would be on another level, it's still understandable the background of a one man band.

A cohesive album that is easily listened to completely without skipping tracks, but would dispense with the instrumentals "Consumed by a Dark Paranoia" and "Walker of Dissonant Worlds" featuring "Xastur Within", "Screaming at Forgotten Fears" and "Apparitional Void of Failure ". The other songs maintain the quality of this record, but the three mentioned deserve to be highlighted, "Xasthur Within" already has a show as the name says, you go through a portal and walk through the desolation, you find yourself lost and introspective in the trance of "Screaming at Forgotten Fears" as well as in "Apparitional Void of Failure", it is also worth mentioning the re-recording of "A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors" which presents us with this more polished version of this important song.

To Violate the Oblivious is a consistent work that brings everything that Xasthur represents in a polished way, it would be great if this album were bigger and had versions of other outstanding songs like "Doomed By Howling Winds", "A Walk Beyond Utter Blackness", " Nocturnal Poisoning", "Tyrant of Nightmares", are masterpieces and certainly "Xastur Within", "Screaming at Forgotten Fears" and "Apparitional Void of Failure" will add to this list.