Obscene – From Dead Horizon to Dead Horizon
Release Date: 27th May 2022
Label: Blood Harvest
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Obituary, Malevolent Creation, Jungle Rot, Asphyx.
Review By: Rick Farley
American Death Metal band, Obscene, would have easily fit in the Florida Death Metal scene in the early nineties, bringing a thrashy approach to their buzz sawed toned slab of Tampa-tinged Death Metal. Depending on who’s listening, that can be both good and bad. On one hand, which was a glorious time in music and should be celebrated. On the other hand, it’s becoming such a cliché to constantly say that every new release is old school influenced. If it’s not Tech, Progressive or Blackened, it’s probably going to be Old School Death Metal related. Well, I can gladly say that Obscene, who hails from Indiana and not Florida, is about to release a hellacious beast of an old school influenced album that not only respects the sound of yore but brings it into a modern new light.
From Dead Horizon to Dead Horizon is a vicious assault on your ears, your neck and anyone in the vicinity of your flailing body thrashing about. Besides the bookend instrumentals, it furiously stomps your ass with pummelling blast beats and nasty, groovy kinetic riffs. Relentlessly paced and unforgiving, the songs are high octane and an immediate kick to the face, bringing menacing hooks and razor-sharp potency.
Borrowing a bit from the Swedes, the guitars have a gritty chainsaw tonality that rips through everything with savagery. The riffs are aggressive but also memorable. There’s an infectiousness about them that will keep you smashing shit for days. Easily swaggering between bulldozing heavy to violent bursts of intense thrashiness. The drums are powerful and punchy, a flurry of intricate fills, sick double bass work and intensity. They sound incredible, with a live feel that’s often lost in today’s recordings. The bass adds a solid foundation that drives the riffs towards bludgeoning your chest with a hammer. The vocals are coarse, higher pitched and sound like they’re being vomited out with a near hardcore delivery. A gnarly cross between John Tardy and Thomas Lindberg, the vocals are a highlight and bring a welcome unconventional sound that separates them from other bands currently kicking it old school. While I find the vocals to be a strong focal point, I could see where someone could find them dry and monotonous. There’s not a lot of variety in his tone or delivery, which might split some DM fans.
Aside from wanting the vocals to be a little louder in the mix, the production is skull-splitting. Recorded by Noah Buchanan at Mercenary Studios and mastered by the legendary Dan Swanö at Unisound AB, From Dead Horizon to Dead Horizon is meticulously produced while maintaining an alive fierceness. Plain and simple, this record sounds great.
Despite this album being an exemplary chunk of death, it barely reaches the thirty-minute mark. While having, what’s essentially, two instrumental fillers, I find it irritating. Plunking down your hard-earned cash for shows, merch, and the album in whatever form you choose, then getting short-changed in the music department is a bummer.
In the end, though, Obscene is every bit worthy of your attention. Taking bits of the late eighties, early nineties, UK, Scandinavian and American DM scenes and mixing in great sounding production. They’re not reinventing the wheel, but rather, they’re opting to keep the faithful death wheel churning. The band sounds truly sincere in their love of classic Death Metal.
(4 / 5)
