OBSCURA — Cosmogenesis (review)

Album · 2009 · Technical Death Metal

3/5 · 2011-08-14
Diogenes

Obscura have abruptly shot up towards the top of the modern death metal scene, thanks to both touring with Suffocation, and coming out with album right here. After the release of Cosmogenesis in 2009, they’ve become a household name in both the somewhat overblown space-metal fad and the “death metal so technical it’ll blow your balls off” category. As such, their sophomore effort is one of the most talked-about death metal albums of its kind, but while I can definitely see why many people are attracted to it, I can’t say I share their enthusiasm. It’s good, but all of the hype it gets exceeds what’s actually on here.

The first thing you will notice about Cosmogenesis is that there are a lot of things going on. Obscura certainly aren’t bashful about their technicality, making it apparent right from the get-go on Anticosmic Overload. The riffs are amazingly tight, the drummer sounds like he had six cups of coffee pre-recording, and there are fretless bass notes flying all over the place. There’s a good amount of jazz influence on the album (especially in the bass); enough to get away with calling it progressive, but not nearly up to the level of Atheist or Cynic. This trend continues throughout most of the album, in songs that don’t follow much of a structure. So yeah, it’s a progressive technical death metal album…but only MORE so! This is why Cosmogenesis stands out among modern extreme metal: it takes something that’s already crazy and over-the-top and one-ups that. That’s something to be admired.

Okay, so this album is pretty mind-blowing from an instrumental perspective. But at some point, you have to draw the line concerning technicality and focus somewhat on writing good songs. This is where Cosmogenesis experiences the same old problems that victimize the majority of modern technical death metal; there’s almost nothing on this album that is catchy, or thoughtful, or…dare I say, heavy. That’s right folks, this album is not heavy whatsoever! You might think, “So what? The instruments are AMAZING!” But hold on a second. This is death metal first, is it not? I mean, it’s supposed to be. Yes, there are growling vocals, loads of double bass work, and…that’s about it. The production is pristine. There are very few riffs that get you headbanging rather than sitting there with your jaw hanging open. And those vocals…they’re good, yeah, but what’s the point of having evil-sounding growls over wanking instruments? It all sounds so garbled on this album. My point is this: eventually, the awe of this album’s sheer technicality is going to wear off, and it might not seem so godlike once that happens.

However, despite the genre confusion and overall jumbled nature of Cosmogenesis, I must give due credit to the musicians on the album. Every member of the band excels at his individual role, once again going back to Obscura’s eye-opening take on the technical death metal genre. Special mention goes out to Jeroen Paul Thesseling’s bass work; thanks to the crystal-clear production, he plays just as big of a role as the guitarists in making Cosmogenesis a beast of musicianship. It’s because of this that I might recommend this album to a progressive metal fan before a hardcore death metal addict, but it would have to depend on their appreciation of instrumental work.

In the end, the overblown character of this album creates a great first impression, yet at the same time yields little substance. The outstanding playing is sort of canceled out by the lack of direction, with neither positive nor negative outweighing each other. If anything, Cosmogenesis is proof that Obscura are extremely talented musicians with a bright future. That’s as far as I’m going!