"Obscura have been all the rage since the release of 2009's "Cosmogenesis" and the recent release of "Omnivium" has further placed them solidly among the giants of tech/prog metal. Their debut, however, is considered weak by many, and compared to the second and third album, I can understand why it is considered weak.
"Retribution" certainly is very different from "Cosmogenesis" and "Omnivium". It sounds like a completely different band. And, in a way, it is: with the exception of Steffen Kummerer, the line-up is a completely different one, and it is very clear that the creative genius of Christian Münzer and Hannes Grossmann has not graced this album. The style on this album is much more brutal and much less refined than on the subsequent albums(it's still somewhat technical, though).
So, yes, in a way, compared to the band's two "hit" albums, "Retribution" may seem weak. But, in itself, I do not this it's weak. I like how brutal the music is, without it being to much, and I think that there is a lot of really cool classic death metal riffage on the album, which is absent from the later albums. And many of the tracks are pretty awesome - especially "Exit Life" and "Sentiment" both of which draw on more primitive and aggressive old school death metal, combining it with influences from Death.
Productionwise, "Retribution" is less polished and more raw than the subsequent albums, but I kind of like that. Its sound is slightly reminiscent of the Scott Burns Morrisound production of the 90s (but more updated, of course).
So, yes, it's not like the other Obscura albums, but I do not think it deserves its status as "the weak Obscura album" - "the different Obscura album" is fairer. But, it is also fair, to the fans, to inform them that they will not find the progressive and technical Obscura that they know from "Cosmogenesis" and "Omnivium".
Fans of classic death metal might be interested to know that this album features a cover version of Death's "Lack of Comprehension". The reissue version also features cover versions of "Synthetically Revived" (Suffocation) and "God of Emptiness" (Morbid Angel, while the Japanese version also contains cover versions of "Decade ov Therion" (Behemoth) and "Wings" (Vader).
(review originally posted on metalmsicarchives.com)"
"Obscura blazed into the world's attention focus with their sophomore effort "Cosmogenesis" which offered technical and challenging death metal with nods of reference to the old masters in Cynic, Atheist, Death, Morbid Angel and the like.
"Omnivium" very much continues down the path blazed by "Cosmogenesis" with complex riffage, dissonant chords, jazzy complex fretless bass patterns and insanely fast blastbeats. While you can immediately hear that it is Obscura when the brutal riffage kicks in after the acoustic intro in the opening track "Septuagint" and it would not be incorrect to claim that there are Obscura signature elements that recur on this album, it would be incorrect to claim that there is no progression from "Cosmogenesis" to "Omnivium", and it strikes me as being very obvious that the band have developed their style.
There is more focus on melody on this album (without it being melodeath!), for instance, and there is more use of acoustic guitars on "Omnivium". Moreover, Obscure venture more into the universe of dissonance than they did on "Cosmogenesis", and this creates a very interesting tension, especially when accompanied by ultra fast blastbeats. I also detect less Death influences on this album than on "Cosmogenesis", but there are more Cynic-like riffs here in several tracks - which I think is a nice touch. There are also some black metal tendencies (but the more complex kind associated with Deathspell Omega), which were absent from the previous album, and among the many extreme metal vocal styles used on this album we find a harsher 90s black metal style aggressive type of vocals, which I actually find a nice addition to the universe of Obscura.
As mentioned, there are many blastbeats, and I think that, like on "Cosmogenesis", there are too many blastbeats on the album. Blastbeats can be ultra brutal, but where there are many of them, they tend to lose the brutality factor, and "Omnivium" suffers a bit from this. Other than that, the drumming, like the rest of the musicianship, is top notch and will definitely serve to raise the bar of technical finesse in the world of death metal.
Productionwise,n the sound is very polished, but it has to be so, otherwise the many details would be drowned out. The bass is very audible in the mix, which is great (since it is, after all, one of the defining features of Obscura's music), but it is not dominant in relation to the other instruments.
"Omnivium" is an interesting and challenging listen which will cause alot of fappage among prog/tech death metal fans, but it might also turn off those who are not "trained" listeners of complex and progressive extreme metal.
When all is said and done, this is a prog/tech death metal masterpiece.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"Aggressive, brutal, with blast beats aplenty (maybe a bit too many), yet technical and at times melodic, with twin leads and melodic guitar solos, Obscura takes one step further down the road paved by the likes of Death, Pestilence, Atheist and Cynic with "Cosmogenesis", which certainly is certainly one of the best second wave technical death metal releases. This album is not an easy listen if one's is not familiar with death metal or with progressive/technical rock, and even to seasoned fans of death metal, "Cosmogenesis" may be a challenging listen, making use of harmonic melodies one moment and dissonant chords the very next and bass work carrying on the legacy of Death's "Individual Thought Patterns" and Atheist's "A Piece of Time". However, if one, like many fans of progressive music do, likes to be challenged, then, by all means, purchase this album. I don't like the growling, I must admit - I think it would have sounded much better with cleaner vocals."
