OBSCURITY – Ascheregen

vote
7.0

• Bands:
  OBSCURITY
• Duration: 00:50:16
• Available from: 01/29/2026
• Label:

• Trollzorn

Obscurity are now a well-known name on the international scene, if only because the German melodic black-death metal band has been around since 1997 and has produced ten albums, with a chapter every approximately three-four years. For this latest release, the band actually took a little more time, perhaps also thanks to a change in line-up, so much so that this “Ascheregen” now arrives five years after the last “Skogarmaors”.

“Nothing new on the Western front”, one could say, as Obscurity increasingly seem to want to embody the Germanic spirit of the past, the Nordic version in particular, i.e. 'Viking'. These epic melodies have long been accompanied by more than good production in which the band's melodic death metal sound is at its best. The stylistic references to the much more well-known Vikings Amon Amarth are inevitable and perhaps even a little cunningly desired by the band, as this type of sound is a guarantee of making inroads into a segment of the public that loves heavy metal adorned with epic atmospheres that bring us back to the medieval world. However, credit must be given to the band, thanks to its decades of experience, for knowing very well how to package songs with a certain logic and an interesting potential, composed of a pounding rhythm, ad hoc slowdowns to further weigh down the sound and more agile restarts with an epic touch. The fact that the formation is permanently integrated within the Viking metal circle is further demonstrated by the presence on the song “Runenwinter” of Erik Grawsiö of the Swedish Månegarm, an iconic band of this genre; thanks also to this contribution, the song in question reveals itself to possess a truly belligerent charge. Coming to other so-called highlights, the opener “Initium Dekadentiae” is a devastating start, which has nothing to envy of today's Amon Amarth, on the contrary. Other noteworthy songs are therefore “Dreifaltigkeit”, which opens with a drum-only intro that is a bit reminiscent of the unforgettable beginning of “Territory” by Sepultura, and then channels towards a massive and rhythmic death metal that always reminds us of Amon Amarth from the golden period of “With Oden On Our Side”. The title track, however, is a bit of a disappointment with its very basic songwriting, in which the guitar tries its hand at an obvious melodic theme and a rhythm that is never really pressing. From a song that gives the title to the entire album, we always expect something significant or at least particular. Fortunately, the following “Ketzerjagd” already begins in a more convincing and compelling way: Obscuirty's style is always the same, but when the melodies are right the final result is more than pleasant.

Essentially, the times of a pivotal album like “Vintar” are long gone, as this work was released in 2014, but stylistically Obscurity still doesn't show any signs of major changes today. For a musical proposal that is not exactly original like theirs, to get noticed it is important that the inspiration is always at good levels, but, looking at the last chapters of the discography, it can be said that with the passage of time the vein of the group has faded a bit, even if not completely. This new “Ascheregen”, specifically, could have had a shorter duration, given that some episodes appear rather superfluous and risk losing attention. In this sense, our people could definitely get smarter. In any case, we can speak of a square work with no obvious flaws on a formal level, undoubtedly suitable for a certain type of audience that blindly follows the Viking subgenre. The vote also rewards Obscurity's decades-long march towards Valhalla.