| Metal Storm - Emerging 2007 |
And yet again another promising young Dutch band that gets a proper release by Rusty Cage Records. Emerging was originally recorded and released in 2006 by the band themselves and mixed and mastered by Jochem Jacobs (Textures) with Serge Regoor (ex-Amethyst) on vocals. So why do we get a re-release of Emerging, you might ask? Well, shortly after the recording of Emerging, Obsidian and Serge decided to part ways. A new vocalist was quickly found in the person of, none other than the renowned, Robbe K (Disavowed, Arsebreed). March 2007 saw Obsidian land a contract with Rusty Cage Records for an international release of Emerging. This re-release of Emerging is fully remastered and recorded by, once again, Jochem Jacobs, featuring the new vocalist Robbe K.
Since I never heard the 2006 release I will just focus on the 2007 version which is in one word: Great. First aspect that caught my attention was the beautiful digipack it is presented in: An x-ray type painting covering the front and back in which I see references to a couple of the songs (more specifically Kobalt and Vapours). But with just a visual presentation you still won't score high marks, it's all about the music, right?
Just as the accompanying bio states the band plays progressive death metal in the vein of bands such as Meshuggah, Scarve, Cynic, and Opeth and I would like to add Atheist as well. So, expect professionally executed technical, not easily accessible, death metal. With a great production thanks to Jochem Jacobs, who is quickly gaining a name for himself as a top-notch producer. The amalgamation of the influences of the aforementioned bands see to it that Obsidian does possess an own identity. Okay, so there are moments when you do hear the influence of a band such as Cynic in some jazzy passages, or bands such as Meshuggah and Scarve in some of the rhythms, and a song such as the instrumental Emerging wouldn't have been out of place on Atheist's Elements. As for the Opeth influence to me that's the least prominent of the influences, this would be more a vibe thing than a more specific musical influence. But mixing them all together in this way with Robbe K's characteristic vocals as icing on the cake sure as hell delivers a damn tasty own identity which should bring us years of happiness to come.
The running order of the cd is in such a way that everything flows naturally and is over before you know it. Never a boring or dull moment, or trying to be progressive and technical just for the sake of it, always keeping it to the point and varied.
A great debut album that bodes well for the future. And with the sort of progressive death metal Obsidian plays they can go every which way they want musically. Obsidian aren't afraid to experiment and take chances. That's a good sign in today's stagnating, and playing it safe, metal scene. Although all eight tracks on Emerging are strong I would specifically want to recommend opener Footprints, Vapours, and the instrumental Emerging.
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| MetalReview - Emerging |
Wrapped up in a professional full length offering that matches most label released efforts, Obsidian are not too far removed from country mates Textures as far as their choppy, robotic approach to modern death tinged progressive metal is concerned. And with a slightly fuller production and more gruff vocals, but not quite as experimental as Textures, Obsidian’s full length debut is easily on par with the rather underwhelming Drawing Circles.
With a high level of well produced musicianship and solid song writing that manages to balance chunky, mechanical riffage ( "Footprints", "Vapours", "Time") and a more fluid but still complex sense of melodic death metal/thrash vigor that reminded me a little of Hatesphere ("Kobalt", "Dogmatic", "Mirrored"), Emerging has all sort of appeal to a wide range of extreme metal fans, and is well deserving of a label deal. Though not as commercial as say Mnemic, there are some clean vocal segues ("Kobalt") or more relaxed moments (the instrumental "Emerging"), that are passable and give the album a few moments of respite. The immense "Tsujigiri" closes the album out with a controlled, mid pace stagger, showing that Obsidian are a more than capable metal band just crying for a record deal.
While every deathcore, hardcore or metalcore act is getting a record deal and subsequently breaking up after one promising EP, hard working, consistent, quality metal bands like Obsidian, Reality Grey, The Fifth Sun and The Living Fields are relegated to scratching out an existence on myspace and hoping (as am I) the musical pendulum swings away from cookie cutter ‘core’ bands and back to real music sometime soon
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| Metalrage - Emerging |
Through a message on our forum I was introduced to Obsidian from Amsterdam. I was immediately impressed by the only song I could listen to on their site and the artwork is absolutely phenomenal! I was eager to hear more of this band and I will tell why you should too!
Obsidian makes technical metal which is very much in the vein of Meshuggah; on the opening track ‘Footprints’ (which can be downloaded at their site) we hear a mathematical riff accompanied with a nice dark, dragging vibe. The singer contributes a large part to this vibe with a characteristic, low and threatening voice; this is created by the long notes he sings.
Other influences which can be named are Textures and Scarve, but don’t think that Obsidian is a simple copy of the bands I named, because they distinguish themselves with their slower and heavier sound. They really managed to create an awesome sound and vibe of their own while this is only their debut album! Even more surprising to me was that they aren’t signed to a label yet; what a shame, because Obsidian proves with this CD and strong production that they belong to the international top of technical metal bands.
I was a bit disappointed with the second song, ‘Kobalt’, because of the boring opening riff which isn’t a real challenge for your ears. Fortunately, this is the only exception and all the other material really manages to keep this release very interesting, because Obsidian also shows it can fantastically incorporate melodies in their complex songs. This is best shown on the following and my favorite song ‘Dogmatic’; it starts with a slow and very melodic high guitar line which gives you the shivers and finishes with a very brutal and maddening riff which is repeated until it drives you insane. The next song severely holds this mood and isn’t loosened until the last notes of the CD sound through the speakers. I could go on and on, but you simply got to check it out for yourself; you will be impressed!
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| Brutalism - Emerging |
Tech metal that is very reminiscent of Meshuggah and perhaps influenced a little by Opeth, in their album "Emerging," obsidian deliver a true polyrhythmic masterpiece. I hate to use the term "Math rock" because that implies that the band members of Obsidian in their spare time like to work on algebra homework and discuss quadratic formulas during band breaks. Somehow I doubt that just because a band uses complex riffs and time signatures that are varied from the rock 'n' roll standard 4-4 that they need to have a label slapped on them that implies they are a bunch of eggheads.
But if there is such a thing as "Math rock, Obsidian are it, and they get down and dirty and death metal as opposed to some acts of the sub-genre that sound a little more like fusion or acid jazz. The singer on the recording Serge Regoor (who reportedly has now left the band) sings a bit like Andres Sydow of Darkane. The rhythm section of Melle Kramer (drums) and Glen Loupias (bass) is pure mechanical precision and the guitar work is varied between clean and dirty sounds.
Obsidian guitarists Sjaak Kassles and Simon Lawford use a lot of altered scales and arpeggios as are often a characteristic of "Math rock" music and they throw in a few more standard rock guitar licks blended with ascending-descending tremolos that are characteristic of death metal guitar sounds. The whole package is delivered with blazing speed and mind-bending precision, and unlike high school algebra class, this album is anything but boring!!!
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| Asice - Emerging |
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Is Obsidian the little brother of Textures? I am just kidding because the term 'little' is not the right word. With this first self released full length called 'Emerging' they immediately have one of the best technical Dutch metal records released. It's a record in the vein of Textures but with a big dose of technical Death Metal and Meshuggah influences in it. That's setting the standard high but these young guys from Amsterdam succeed on songs like "Footprints" or Tsujigiri". I am not sure if vocalist Serge (who has an intense scream on these recordings) also handles the clean vocals but on a song like "Kobalt" the melodic parts of Opeth shine through. The subtle entrance of these parts gives the songs time to breathe and perfectly matches with the technical character of the technical metal songs. With 'Emerging' Obsidian tries to catch a record deal; judging by the music that won't be a problem.
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