Californian Blackened Death Metal group Oblivion just dropped their full-length debut “Called To Rise” a few days ago. Featuring original members from All Shall Perish, Antagony, Hacksaw To The Throat, and Feast – it’s safe to say there’s lots of talent here. Actually, that might be an understatement when you look into the credentials of individual members. For example, bassist Ben Orum was the founder and primary songwriter of All Shall Perish, vocalist Dr. Nick Vasallo is an internationally acclaimed composer, and Ted O’Neill is a shredding legend returning to the scene after a 25 year hiatus. That’s barely scratching the surface. Just to boost their ego a little more, Oblivion are currently the #1 metal band on all of Bandcamp. Yeah, you can go ahead and read that again. Out of the countless metal bands on that website, Oblivion is dominating as the top dog. Serious kudos for that. Keep on reading and find out just how good the album is.
To put it simply… “Called To Rise” kicks ass! Oblivion brings a Technical Death Metal edge along with some Black Metal elements and great experimentation. There is high level intelligence and glorious execution displayed throughout all the songs. These guys understand their musical theory and it really shows from track to track. That aside, Oblivion displays all the best elements of Death Metal and some. Every single member of this group has something huge to offer listeners. This is phenomenal, crushing, heavy music. I also have to mention this album was recorded and produced by the band themselves before they self-released it. And they did a damn good job in the studio. Respect.
“Called To Rise” is solid from start to finish but some tracks stand out especially. “Black Veils Of Justice” was the first song I ever heard from Oblivion. Fast, furious, and punishing – it is the reason I’m currently writing this positive review. Highly recommended track. You can watch the music video for it below. Likewise, you can watch the music video for “Reclamation” above. The song smacks you with the heaviness right away and keeps a great pace between it’s extreme technicality and blast beats. At the end it crushes you with a breakdown featuring some very awesome, experimental time changes. “Binary Souls” is just plain great. Yet again, the band’s experimental side really comes out on this track through serious tempo changes and an element of diversity. “Annunaki” is another track that will floor you almost immediately. It might be one of the heaviest tracks on the record, transitioning from slicing blast beats to punishing brutality seamlessly. “Reigns In Fire” opens apocalyptic portals. Enough said. “Multiverse” is easily among the best tracks featured on the album. It opens up with eerily beautiful music through weaving guitar and piano only to smash you eardrums with straight up metal \m/ Well composed and executed, it brings out all the best elements of Oblivion as a musical unit.
I personally don’t have any major criticisms of this record. Objectively, some people may view segments as the same old Death Metal. Most others and I don’t have that problem because of the awesome delivery. Oblivion brings across a classic quality with their music. There might be some very minor flaws here and there. But nothing that really holds back this superb effort.
And the verdict is obvious. “Called To Rise” stands tall as what’s sure to be one of the best Death Metal releases of 2013. This album is highly recommended to Death Metal enthusiasts and metal heads in general. Heavy, intelligent, and moshable \m/ Not to mention the guys themselves are great people. Go ahead and watch the music videos Oblivion has released to get an idea of the greatness held in “Called To Rise”. And if you enjoy the record as much as we do, be sure to go support Oblivion with a download on Bandcamp and keep them at #1! If you want a physical copy, ACT NOW! There was a limited pressing of 1,000 and half of them are already gone. Stay metal my friends \m/
