Review from Nine Circles

February 16, 2017
From: Nine Circles
Published: February 14, 2017

Cries of being part of the machine have been the fodder of rock and roll for decades. For Pink Floyd it was the conformity stamping music industry that prompted their 1975 classic “Welcome to the Machine.” Hell, even Sebastian Bach lamented “I gotta punch the clock that leads the blind / I’m just another gear in the assembly line-oh no” on Skid Row’s 1991 Slave to the Grind. We’ve all felt that wearing down of the rough edges, whether it’s due to the corporate machine, the political machine…even the family machine. The crushing weight of authoritarianism and idealogical control has been acutely present these last few months, and it’s an oppressive weight Swedish black metal duo Obitus channel with a clinical fury on their latest release, Slaves of the Vast Machine.  

Since 2000 Obitus has been the infernal work of Anders Ahlbäck who handles the music composition and instruments and Johan Huldtgren, writer and screamer of misanthropic words. It’s a relationship that, while remaining constant in function has seen a tremendous amount of growth since their demo Coupe de Grâce rumbled forth with a machine-gun mix of lo-fi black metal and weird punk esthetic (check the solo bass in the beginning of “Endless Dark Tormentors”). 2006’s EP Stratagema shows the preoccupation with authority had been there for some time in tunes like “21st Century Terror State,”  especially since the resurrected songs were actually written five years previously. But it’s 2009’s March of the Drones where the seeds for Slaves of the Vast Machine are most readily evident. Song lengths begin to stretch out, and Ahlbäck starts to experiment with tempo a  little, allowing some space to breathe menace into the opening of “Sacrificial Abolishment.” Gone are the strict blast beat single riff songs, replaced with a labyrinth structure of churning chords and guitar lines, all anchored by a staccato drum machine and the throat shredding roar of Huldtgren. Barring a short split in 2014 the duo had been pretty quiet, but just in time for the harsh solitude of winter comes a massive blot of anger to move 2017 right along.

A single track clocking in at over 45 minutes, Slaves of the Vast Machine starts in a swirling mess of buzzing guitars and screams that threaten to burst into static. There’s precious little breathing room here, and when there is (at 3:40 and 11:00, for example) the room is suffused with despair and hopelessness. You eagerly await the return to the face melting brutality. Riffs slowly morph into other forms, the programmed drums only adding to the cold and clinical machine heart that seeks to demolish any semblance of individuality and hope in the human race. But this is black metal: what need we of hope!? An even better question is how a band manages the trick of composing a 45 minute track that not only works from beginning to end, but does so without resorting to cheats like simply stringing separate songs togethers with filler segues or jarring the listener with abrupt tonal changes. Musical ideas echo each other over the course of the song; 30 minutes in we’re hearing permutations and reflections both musically and lyrically. And the final minute is just as punishing and intent to rip your throat out as the first minute is.

So the question remains: how? How does Obitus keep you in their blackened pocket? How does Slaves of the Vast Machine never wear its welcome out? The answer lies in the entire evolution of the band from that 2000 demo until now. Obitus have found a path they can tread without fear of sinking into tired repetition or cheap gimmicks: at its frozen heart Slaves of the Vast Machine is a unified statement that needed to be exactly as long as it is.

Reviewed by: Chris
 

Review (+ Album Premiere) from No Clean Singing

February 13, 2017
From: No Clean Singing
Published: February 13, 2017
Original Link

The Swedish black metal band Obitus have done something remarkable: They’ve made a 45-minute album consisting of a single song that’s on the attack relentlessly, and yet it’s a harrowing thrill-ride straight through to the end.

Now you can either skip straight to the end of this post and start listening to our stream premiere, or you can continue reading, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to do both at the same time — or tr...

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Review from Totally Biased

February 7, 2017
From: TotallyBiased.be
Published: February 3, 2017

Song previews always strike me as something very odd, since I’m no sure what their purpose is. But when I got a 5 minute preview of this, a 45 minute epic black metal song, now that seems to make sense. I was intrigued, wanted to know more. A few days later my review copy came in, and my God, I was not prepared.

First thing I have to say : this is not for the faint-hearted. It’s a full on assault on all senses, and it’s hard t...

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Review from Angry Metal Guy

February 6, 2017
From: Angry Metal Guy
Published: February 5, 2017

Post-black has often struck me as expressing a decadent sort of misery, one which is more malaise than malice, an effeminate whimpering against the dying of the light. It seems to cry out to the God it vehemently denies exists and beg for a purpose, painting a bleak sort of hopelessness; a musical version of an off-brand Sartre, if you will. Like Sartre’s Roquentin1, post-black bands create to find a purpose, but they end up stuck...

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Mini Review from Toilet Ov Hell

February 6, 2017
From: Toilet Ov Hell
Published: February 1, 2017
Original Link

*This is an article about Hypnotic Dirge Records.
Below is the section where the new Obitus album is discussed.
Click on "Original Link" above to read the full article

We’ve covered dark and foreboding misery, as well as powerful cathartic release. Now, it’s time for relentlessly oppressive hate and despair. Although the second full-length from Obitus is not out yet, the two short samples offer us a glimpse at the final product. Sla...


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Review from Franconia Metallum

January 30, 2017
From: Franconia Metallum
Published: January 29, 2017

Allein schon der Opener ist Black Metal par exellance. Brachial, melodiös, eingängig, dunkel, bedrohlich, sprich ein absoluter Hammer. Besonders Johan Huldtgren intensive Kreischvocals und das atmosphärisch unheimlich dichte Riffing von Anders Ahlbäck beschwören hier den ein oder anderen Freuden- bzw. Höllentanz herauf.  OBITUS verbinden sie geschickt die tragenden Elemente zu einem gut funktionierenden Ganzen. Majestätisc...

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No Clean Singing reviews 5 minute sample of "Slaves..."

January 8, 2017
From: No Clean Singing
Published:
January 8, 2017
Original Link

[Part of a "Shades of Black" series] 

The Swedish duo Obitus (vocalist/lyricist Johan Huldtgren and multi-instrumentalist/composer Anders Ahlbäck) are not prolific, but when they do release new music, it’s worth close attention. Their debut album March of The Drones (reviewed here) was released in 2009, and all we’ve received from Obitus since then was the excellent single (“Panoticotopia”) they recorded for the Elemental Ni...

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Review from Occult Black Metal Zine

January 8, 2017
From; Occult Black Metal Zine
Published:
January 4, 2017
Original Link

Obitus  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  very  misanthropic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Slaves  Of  The  Vast  Machine"  which  will  be  released  in  February  as  a  joint  effort  between  Hypnotic  Dirge  and  Black  Plague  Records.

  A  very  distorted  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  musical  direction  which  also ...

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 Released: February 16, 2017
500 Copies (250 through HDR)
Genre: Dystopian / Misanthropic
Black Metal

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