This defiantly-titled EP comes from Obscurus Rex, a Greek metal band formed in 2021. No claims are made about the genre, so let’s listen.

Of course to describe any album there has to be a point of reference. The first minute is devoted, arguably wasted, in warm-up before the song “IT” begins for real. What I heard was a hard rock song dating back to the 1980s. “IT” is melodic. There’s an element of fuzz. The vocals are higher end, power-orientated with strange and disconcerting backing. “Your Enemy Tonight” starts off in sinister fashion, but settles down into a cosy drum beat and guitar rhythm. I half expected the song to burst into “Eye of the Tiger” at one point. The vocals are not bad in themselves but the sound leaves them isolated, and it does seem to be a bit of a strain for the singer. The song breaks out into a cracking guitar solo which provides energy and works in with the song, and I was disappointed when the vocalist returns with his imploring wailings. “I’ll be your friend tomorrow, I’ll take your soul back into the light … just let me be your enemy tonight”, go the lyrics. I can only suspect a Faustian pact. Who knows? The song is schizophrenic – smooth guitar work and anything but smooth vocals. But at least the guitar work returns and the song has a lively end. The sound as a whole is basic. I’m so used to listening to heavily produced albums that it’s quite charming to hear instruments and vocals without distortion.

“4 Justice” has the classic rock core with the power metal style of vocal. The problem is that there was nothing sophisticated about the song, that is until a moody and brief guitar passage about 5 minutes in, which itself steps up to a solo for a while before the main refrain resumes. I sensed that the line “justice in the air” was the leitmotif to make the audience sing along, light candles and regard this as anthemic, but it’s just too weakly delivered to achieve that tag. The fourth and final song “Red” starts quietly and gets us into the mood of anticipation. Steadier and more melancholic, it borders on a dark power ballad. The singer’s voice isn’t the best for this, and while expressive is a bit grating. The deep groove rumbles on repetitively. The lyrics are prog-like in their obscurity. We get relief in the form of an up-tempo guitar and drum passage. The morbid vocal line returns. I am still puzzling over this lyric: “But we should all visit her on fridge 3-10, we have all pushed her in there, frozen air preserves her blood, I’ll never see her face so sad”. Should I feel guilty? Have I missed something here? While I was pondering this, there’s a short and soothing guitar line to bring this work to an end.

Obscurus Rex are a decent rock band but this work fell into a retro gap stylistically without adding anything. I sensed that the band were attempting something unusual in a thematic and progressive way but for me whilst I enjoyed some of the instrumental sections there was a lack of impact. What I heard was disjointed and not always pleasing to the ear or senses. From my perspective “Stand Up and Be Counted” first needed a bigger and stronger sound and second better management and integration of the vocals and the song structures.

(4/10 Andrew Doherty)

https://www.facebook.com/obscurusrex

https://obscurusrex.bandcamp.com/album/stand-up-and-be-counted