Obscenity
“Atrophied in Anguish”
2012
German death metal band Obscenity seems to be stuck in a time warp. The bands 2012 full-length record titled Atrophied in Anguish is the eighth full-length album put out by this band, and it harkens back to the time that brutal death metal was in it’s infancy. This is a good album that lacks variety and creativeness to it’s song writing. Each of these ten songs sounds quite similar to one another with very little distinction separating song to song. What you do get is fast, brutal, and vicious metal record that tries very hard and succeeds at being good at what it does. This is not a lazy experience. Atrophied in Anguish is a bright, lively record that brings death metal back to the primal roots from which it started. Singer Jeff Rudes has a dominating deep voice and he stays consistently good throughout. He is reminiscent of early Chris Barnes from Cannibal Corpse, a little one note, but good at what he does. Hendrik Bruns and Christoph Weerts lay down the duel guitar attack. They weave very well together and throw in some clever slight Morbid Angel style riffs, but those are few. Mostly they are just blazing and crushingly fast and lock down with the fast drumming. Sascha Knust gives a great performance on drums. He plays with ultra fast double kicking and keeps everything tight. Although there are moments of brilliance on the album, the two standout songs would have to be the last two, Monoistic Living and Hysterical Illusion. These two songs show off the bands ability to write songs that have feeling in the playing. I only wish this kind of playing had spread throughout the whole album. Obscenity is an experienced group having put out eight albums and having been around since 1989 (although only two of the five members from when the band started still remain). This is a good death metal album that knows what it wants and does it well. It is just too bad that so much of it sounds so familiar.
Tracklist:
1. Erase the Divine
2. All You Can Kill
3. Atrophied in Anguish
4. From Heroic to Depraved
5. Swine to the Slaughter
6. Perfect Pain
7. Neurotic Frenzy
8. Diary of a Scapegoat
9. Monoistic Living
10. Hystarical Illusion
https://www.facebook.com/Obscenity.Official
Members:
Tobias Mueller – Vocals
Hendrik Bruns – Rhythm/Lead Guitars
Sascha Knust – Drums
Joerg Pirch – Bass
Christoph Weerts – Rhythm Guitars
Rating: 7 out of 10
~Kris