Ne Obliviscaris – Exul

Label: Season of Mist    release date: March 24, 2023

Have Ne Obliviscaris turned to a more “commercial” approach, or have I simply adjusted myself to their unique style? OK seriously: Those Australian Prog Metallers had won me over right away, back then when I listened to their first album. Simply extraordinary, ingenious, this mix of Prog, Extreme Metal, violin, Black Metal growls and angelic clean vocals. It’s so difficult to describe, simply listen to it HERE

The story behind this album is absolutely dramatic:
Drum tracking for Exul, the fourth long-player, started in March 2020 – the pandemic demarcation line. Daniel Presland laid down his drums in Nashville, Tennessee, with American producer Mark Lewis and made it home literally hours before Australia closed theirs. Lewis, guitarist Benjamin Baret and bassist Martino Garattoni weren’t as lucky and were forced to remain overeseas indefinitely. Thus,completing Exul turned into a two-year grind filled with death, relationships breaking down, despair and financial loss. It almost led to the end of Ne Obliviscaris. Presland, their drummer since 2005, amicably parted ways in early 2022.

However, the extra, unexpected downtime allowed the band to fine-tune and even re-write parts of the album.
Seven additional studios and three more countries later, Exul was finally mixed and mastered in July 2022 – and it’s available now.

Exul continues the sound scapes of the previous albums and surely makes NeO fans happy, hopefully winning over a lot of new fans as well. According to the band, there’s a darker core to this album, perhaps more ominous than previous releases. And that’s all I can say about this latest masterpiece of those Australian Prog gods. By the way, they will be touring EU / UK in May and the return to live show activity coincides the band’s 20th anniversary. Get your tickets now, and buy the album at the gig!

Tracklist:
1. Equus (12:13)
2. Misericorde I – As the Flesh Falls (7:33)
3. Misericorde II – Anatomy of Quiescence (9:22)
4. Suspyre (10:09)
5. Graal (8:53)
6. Anhedonia (3:43)
Total: 51:53

Recording line-up:
Xen- Harsh Vocals
Tim Charles – Clean Vocals, Violin, Viola & Keyboards
Benjamin Baret- Lead Guitars
Matthew Klavins- Guitar
Martino Garattoni – Bass
Dan Presland- Drums

Current line-up:
Xen- Harsh Vocals
Tim Charles – Clean Vocals, Violin, Viola & Keyboard
Benjamin Baret- Lead & Acoustic Guitar
Matthew Klavins- Guitar
Martino Garattoni – Bass

Guest musicians:
Additional Violin on tracks 1, 2 & 3 performed by Emma Charles
Additional vocals on Track 1 performed by Alana K Vocal
Cello on Tracks 1 & 4 performed by Dalai Theofilopoulou

Bandwebsite