[Foreword: The review that originally appeared in this place was pretty much off the mark as it barely scratched the surface. I guess that's why I am not a professional music critic but a mere dilettante. In any case, I did like this album, but I didn't really bother to analyze it properly. One day I was in a metal chatroom where two guys were arguing about "Obscura." One of them was saying that it sucks while the other was asserting that this album is for a quaint taste. That made me go back and listen to it more seriously, comparing it to whatever other death metal albums I had. Only then did I realize how different "Obscura" was.]

This is such a twisted death metal record that I don't even know where to start. First of all, for all its aberrations, "Obscura" is brutal, and crystal clear production really benefits it. Everything about this record is exceedingly unconventional. The songs are complex. It takes repeated listens to really grasp every curve and angle presented here. The vocals are growls of wounded beast. From the very first track guitarists demonstrate their ability to do wonders with dynamics while managing to extract extremely bizarre sounds out of their instruments. Unlike your regular death metal band's guitar masturbation, Gorguts' guitars scream, shriek, wail, and at times it seems like they are about to thrust into some odd psychedelic-metal frenzy. Show me a death metal band which uses violins. Well, Gorguts use violins, and to what extent!! On tracks "Earthly Love" and "Carnal State" they blend them into their blastbeats and chaotic rhythms to create a chamber music feel. Oh, and songs like "Nostalgia," "Subtle Body," "Raptuous Grief" and "La Vie Est Prelude..." boast impressive melodic passages. The album's pace is so restless and tenacious that when half way through the album the band throws in a sluggish, nine minute epic "Clouded," the striking contrast creates a somnolent (as much as the death metal genre allows it to be), almost somnambulistic effect. The music on "Obscura" is chaotic. The songs roll backward and forward simultaneously. The band's songwriting approach is abstract to say the least, and I am even tempted to call it avant-death metal, but Gorguts always remain in control of their creations. No matter how far their artistic instincts have driven them, they never forget that they are a death metal band, and with that they found a golden mean between experimentation and brutality while being able to write actual songs. I am not the biggest death metal fan around, but "Obscura" is not your average death metal album. Some people will, no doubt, berate it, but from a death metal fan's reaction to it, you can judge whether he/she can really accept something different within their own back yard.

© 1999 boris