Stooge
I stumbled upon Obliveon in a somewhat random fashion. I was in the mood for something old-school from the nineties, and a local store had a used copy of Cybervoid to hold me over.
The overall atmosphere of the album is cold and eerie, with a sound that blends the cyber/industrial metal of Fear Factory with the prog-influenced thrash of fellow Quebecers Voivod. I guess it was a direction a few bands of the era went. The vocal stylings of Bruno Bernier remind me of a cross between Gus Chambers of Grip Inc. and Max Cavalera. His voice is sort of a growl, but not too deep or guttural.
Much of the material here is based on heavy, repeating grooves, the strengths of which vary from track to track. The guitarists opt the occasional solo break, which vary from melodic to distortion/effects-driven affairs. Of all the material on the album, “Cybervoid”, “Perihelion”, “Subgod” and “Biomechanique” are what I consider to be the highlights.
Cybervoid is a good release for fans of death or thrash metal, though not a must-have album. I’d say it’s somewhere around 2.5-3 stars out of 5, so I’ll round up.