UMUR "Akróasis" is the 4th full-length studio album by German death metal act Obscura. The album was released through Relapse Records in February 2016. It´s been 5 years since the release of "Omnivium (2011)" and in addition to a lot of touring the time has also been spend with a lot of lineup changes. In fact the only remaining member since the last album is band founder/guitarist/lead vocalist Steffen Kummerer. Lineup changes are not unusual for Obscura though, who have had quite a few prolific musicians in their fold throughout the years in artists like bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Pestilence, Mayan), drummer Hannes Grossmann (Necrophagist, Blotted Science, Eternity's End), bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Death, Sadus, Iced Earth), and guitarist Christian Münzner (Alkaloid, Eternity's End, Spawn of Possession, Necrophagist). The new guys in the lineup on "Akróasis" are bassist Linus Klausenitzer (who has actually played with the band since 2011), drummer Sebastian Lanser, and guitarist Tom Geldschläger.

Stylistically the album opener "Sermon of the Seven Suns" continues the technical/progressive death metal style of "Omnivium (2011)", but already on the second track "The Monist" things change a bit. It´s a darker track with deeper growling vocals, and an interesting approach to composition, harmony, and structure. It´s also generally a bit more stripped down and less layered than "Sermon of the Seven Suns", and that contrast continues throughout the album. Some tracks are quite sophisticated and layered, while others feature a more stripped approach. That doesn´t mean the latter type tracks aren´t technically challenging and compositionally complex, but it´s obvious Obscura have deliberately gone for a more "bare" sound on those tracks.

In the other end of the spectrum you have a track like the closing 15:15 minutes long epic "Weltseele", which is probably the band´s most ambitious composition to date. It´s an incredibly intelligent and varied track, which proves beyond any doubt why Obscura are widely regarded as one of the most prolific contemporary technical/progressive death metal acts on the scene. Yes it´s sometimes a bit too polished and lacking grit and rawness, but on the other hand they deliver their brand of death metal with great conviction and incredible skill. Some of the things played here are designed to make your jaw drop and succeed well in doing that. Fast-paced precision drumming, technical and predominantly melodic oriented death/thrash guitar riffs and solos, and the high pitched snarling and deeper growling vocals in front. The occasional robotic vocoder voice part is also a part of the soundscape (Cynic style).

"Akróasis" features a powerful, clear, and detailed sound production, which suits Obscura´s sound pretty well. The choice to remove some of the omnipresent layering of sounds on some of the tracks on the album, is really successful to my ears. It makes "Akróasis" a more varied listen than "Omnivium (2011)". Not necessarily a better or more consistent release than the predecessor but definitely more varied and occassionally also a bit more raw.

Upon conclusion "Akróasis" is yet another high quality technical/progressive death metal album by Obscura. Despite the many lineup changes and years between albums, Obscura have maintained their signature sound, but made just enough adjustments and little changes to said sound to not grow stale. The compositions are sophisticated, powerful, and intriguing, the sound production professional and detailed, and the musicianship is on a high level on all posts. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

adg211288 With their third full-length release Omnivium (2011) the German progressive/technical death metal act Obscura really took the metal world by storm. It seemed that the group were going to be unstoppable for the foreseeable future. I don't think anyone could have predicted that it would take five years for the follow-up to Omnivium to be released, but that's exactly what happened. Akróasis (2016) is the band's fourth full-length album and you'll only need one look at the line-up to understand why Obscura's journey suffered such a derailment: 75% of the band line-up has been changed. Of course Obscura was always primarily the band of frontman Steffen Kummerer and this isn't actually the first time his entire host of bandmates have been rotated between albums. It also happened between debut Retribution (2006) and Cosmogenesis (2009). While the previous band was made up of musicians that were known names to me (Christian Münzner, Hannes Grossmann and Jeroen Paul Thesseling) the new Obscura line-up on Akróasis are comparatively unknowns. It's Tom Geldschläger on guitar, Linus Klausenitzer on bass and Sebastian Lanser on drums. It should be noted that Geldschläger has already exited the band and been replaced by Rafael Trujillo.

Despite these changes in personnel not much has really changed within the Obscura sound itself. The new musicians prove good replacements for the departed ones, with Klausenitzer's fretless bass work adding that same really effective layer that Thesseling did previously, so Akróasis pretty much picks up where Omnivium left off as if nothing had happened. Quite frankly that's actually a little bit of a disappointment as it's usually interesting to hear how new blood can affect an artist's music. The only real difference on Akróasis as I hear it is that Obscura have tried to expand their sound a bit by including some softer almost atmospheric sections along with their usual technical death metal approach, which gives the album are increased progressive feel, but I also think they lost a bit of the previous album's aggression somewhere along the line, as Akróasis certainly doesn't pack as much punch as Omnivium did. Such is always a risk when you play technical death metal. The balance between it all needs to be maintained to be truly effective at it, and I think Obscura have slipped ever so slightly here.

The actual song-writing remains strong and I like that Obscura have really pushed the boat out and included the 15:15 long Weltseele, which immediately struck me as being their most adventurous track to date, while other tracks that stand out to me are Sermon of the Seven Suns, though it does lack the power to immediately immerse me in the album like Septuagint did for Omnivium, but such is really true for the whole album, taking me several listens to really find an appreciation for it. Also The Monist is a strong one, with Kummerer's growls reminding me of those used on the previous album's Ocean Gateways.

Obscura as always have delivered a quality product but Akróasis seems to me to be a one step forward two steps back kind of release. I like it a fair bit still, but I expect that whenever the fancy for some Obscura strikes me my first port of call with continue to be Omnivium, rather than Akróasis

Time Signature World sea...

Genre: prog/tech death metal

The champions of progressive death metal are back with another onslaught of mind-boggling death metal. To be released in a couple of days, "Akroasis" - like its predecessors - showcases the incredible musicianship that is contained within the entity that is Obscura.

From beginning to end, the listener is bombarded with insane blastbeats and exciting fretless bass figures. Accompanying these are virtuous guitar solos and guitar riffs that range from the melodic over the brutal to the dissonant. Every composition on the album is complex and contains several changes in time and tempo. This is progressive death metal indeed.

If this sounds like a description that could apply to any Obscura album, well then it is because there are no changes in musical direction on this release. That is not a bad thing. With music such as that created by Obscura, each song in itself is full of so many twists and turns that it is not necessary for the band to reinvent their sound in order to keep the listener interested.

Fans of Obscura should of course invest in this album as should any person who claims to be a fan of progressive and/or technical death metal.