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Ibyss - Obsydian


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I have no idea what the guys from Ibyss had in mind while recording this album… Maybe it was about creating something new? Some strange music without any single sound of bass? Or music which is so one-dimensional that it’s impossible to find any sound depth? If so – congratulation – you succeded! However, it doesn’t mean the material is at least avarage. Not all innovative ideas are by any chance good ones. Some concepts simply should not be brought to life…

Unfortunately, "Obsydian" is just a bad album! It sounds like some strange hybrid of old guitar industrial, bringing to mind the album "Millenium" and quite popular now band Sunn O))), and apparently the elements of either of these two can hardly be found. Or maybe I’m too niggling? No – not at all. Let’s see what we’ve got here – 10 slow tracks, almost all the same. With the music based on five pillars – however, each of them is made not from obsidian but rather decayed wood in the hands of drunken unfullfilled artist. These are: vocal, guitar, bass, electronics and drums. 
The vocal is nothing else than screaming – it’s hard to classify it as anything else – and melodeclamation. It goes well with this poor music but it’s completely dull and bland. It seems like someone just wanted to shout a bit. Maybe with some other music it would be better – here it’s only an addition which is supposed to cover other imperfections – well – not really successfully. Sometimes it’s even out of tune.
Drums – total disaster! It is easy to hear it has been programmed by computer – but it doesn’t go with tthis music at all – it’s schematic and painfully predictable – someone was trying to give the power of live drums to those computer ones but he totally failed and made it infantile.
When it comes to guitar it’s all based on some simple riffs (power chords) and feedbacks – sometimes with playing chromatic scales or single long sounds. All of this is very similar. In a way it’s metal, in a way powerful but somehow it lacks all the power. Nothing here is thrilling. It’s slow and clunky. There is some bass, but it’s almost as if it’s not here – it took me long to find it. The poorest track in this regard, is "Weakness" (the title could well serve as the title of the whole album). Mostly you can hear some single sounds. It lacks that characteristic feeling which is added to the track thanks to bass parts. I wouldn’t be surprised if it came out that it was just a proper guitar with some bass adjustments. There is almost no electronics. Moreover, it’s poor and it adds nothing to the tracks which would be exactly the same without it. Working on it was a waste of time. Listening to this album was also a waste of time…

Why being so cruel?
Perhaps the reason is that "Obsydian" is the worst album I have ever heard…

P.S: There is one remix on the album and it's the only track worth listening.

Tracklist:
01. Weakness
02. New Counter
03. Last Stitch
04. Carrion Crow
05. Halo of Thorns
06. Holy Trinity
07. Like a Knife
08. Monolith
09. Monuments of Ferocity
10. Whispers
11. Last Stitch - Nemesis Remix by Rotten
Author:
Translator: morrigan
Add date: 2017-01-17 / Music reviews




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