First off, let’s quickly get the Oliphant out the long barn. After Linus Klausenitzer (bass), Rafael Trujillo (guitars), and Sebastian Lanser (drums) moved on from Obscura in 2020, they formed Obsidious and recruited Javi Perera to take care of vocals. Now while there is a healthy nod to where they came from as a trio, there are far more differences down the path they are now treading.
The album opens with “Under Black Skies”, where Javi’s deep growl and harsh rasping vocals are combined with a near operatic clean vocal, all delivered over the extremely rapid footwork provided by Sebastian combined with his syncopated timing signatures.
Their first video for “Sense Of Lust” was released a year ago and signalled what we were in store for with the intense 6-string bass runs alongside the stop-start guitar leads, with a timing signature that ranges from mellow and steady to manic and rushed.
The title track, “Iconic”, has the clean vocals take precedence, and while the music is possibly even faster than on some other tracks, it feels a little lighter because of the vocals, but that quickly changes once the growling starts and the pace is reigned in slightly.
“Bound By Fire” on the other hand, throws in plenty of harsh screams to go with the low roars and soaring cleans, as the constant bass runs slow to accompany an unhurried lead solo that winds its way back up to speed for the final verse of the song.
Slowing things down completely after a rather vivacious start, “Iron and Dust” is filled with plenty of indulgent leads and that continue unabated while the emotional vocals hit higher notes than they have up to this point.
I can’t get Devin Townsend out of my head as the clean vocals transition in on “I Am” from the harsher vocals, along with the mid-tempoed drumming combined with the myriad of riffs that all appear to be taking part simultaneously.
The intro to “Delusion” is almost Morricone, but then the bass comes in and blows it all away, the song’s is very Opeth-like, flipping from clean verses to death choruses with proggy riffs that flow seamlessly into blasts without missing a note.
The transition from heavy to nearly nursery rhymey on “Devotion” makes the contrasts stand out all the more and but are unable exaggerate the excellence of the lead breaks.
Slowly building up to become an almost thrashy number, but filled with extra bass fills and growls, “Nowhere” still has the clean vocals give the song a symphonic metal feel as they are belted out with the lead barely restraining itself from bursting forth until there’s a bridge for it to do so.
The album ends with the rather interesting “Lake Of Afterlife”, which is a rather fitting wrap up as it contains so many elements that have been showcased up to this point, such as virtuously played leads, a range of vocal styles, all while the bass never stops going through varying melodies with drums going from simply keeping time, to intense rolls and blasts for good measure.
I definitely enjoyed this and am certain that this album shall be a benchmark they shall have to keep improving upon for all their next releases.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
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