Album Review: Viscera - Obsidian
Reviewed by Tim Finch
Before even a note is played, Viscera’s pedigree is undeniable. The band feature former members of Heart of a Coward, Abhorrent Decimation, Martyr Defiled, Nervecell and Surfaces. When you take those names into account the idea of Viscera’s music is already painting a picture in your head. But what we need to find out is, does the bands debut album live up to the weight of expectation?
The group came together in 2019, inspired by seminal 90’s and 00’s bands including the likes of Pantera, Meshuggah, At The Gates, The Black Dahlia Murder and Killswitch Engage. Just hearing that has your mouth watering as a listener, drooling in anticipation of what’s to come.
Opening with a solo pianist the gentle introduction slowly builds, guitars join this gentile sound and the atmosphere grows. Drums kick in and before we know it ‘Delilah’ is battering our senses. Blast beats ring out and Jamie Graham’s guttural screams leave a haunting echo in your ear. This is the start of something epic, or so it would seem.
Ridiculously fast guitars kick of ‘Immersed in Ire’ as the album continues the way it started. As is the trend these days in the new wave of death metal genre and flowing through to deathcore, the guitars are both immensely technical and blisteringly fast and leaves you as a listener in awe of the musicianship that has made up this recording.
‘Carpe Noctem’ adds atmosphere with haunting, backing vocals that echo around your eyes as the track continues at pace. The song has a greater depth than those which have come before it, its almost operatic in death metal terms. ‘Hammers and Nails’ starts differently, a keyboard chimes as a wind blows, creating a sense of the calm before the storm, which is exactly the case as the band kick in thirty seconds later, latterly melting your face with the intensity.
If you’re a fan of technical death metal delivered at pace, then this album will be right up your street, slotting in well in an already crowded genre, head and shoulders above some of their contemporaries. With this debut Viscera deliver on expectation and then some in what will be for many a contender for album of the year.
Viscera release 'Obsidian' via Unique Leader on March 6th
