Ne Obliviscaris – Urn

Label: Seasons of Mist     release: 27. 10. 2017     playing time: 45:56

Ne Obliviscaris are simply brilliant. That’s about it. And those Australians have been proving this plain fact with two previous releases (Portal of I, Citadel) and a number of tours around the globe.

All I can do is therefore repeating my impression of their debut album:’Complex rhythms, a variety of sophisticated sound dimensions, influenced by Prog, Melodic Death and even Folk-Jazz  … “Intense Progressive Extreme Metal” is the official definition according to the band info: Epic-heroic-passionate Clean Vocals (Tim Charles, who also plays the violin) contrasted with bestial growling (Xenoyr), melancholic virtuoso solo guitars (Benjamin Baret) plus catchy-rolling riffing (Matt Calvins – git) that was inspired by Land-of-the-thousand-lakes-sound, plus a drummer from another planet (Dan Presland) … and this is just my description of the first song…’

Another connection with Portal of I are those Flamenco influences woven into the song structure. In case you cannot imagine how this should work in combination with Death Metal and a violin, just check the video “Intra Venus” below.

The only real surprise on this album was those few minutes of commerce, yes, radio Pop (giggle) – there’s a potential “ohohoh”  sing-along part which surely works like a charm when played live. Because otherwise it’s too much of a challenge for any audience to sing along with Ne Obliviscaris material …

Summing up I can only repeat what I wrote back then: ‘This is one of those albums that leave you open-mouthed, and you know instantly that this is an ingenious masterpiece – a MUST for every record collection. Maximum points – buy it!’