Location: Vienna (Wien) / Arena / Austria
Date: Monday, 02/18/2019
German progressive death metallers Obscura have been busy lately. The lineup has stabilized, creativity is not in short supply, and regular tours are on the schedule too. The latest album Diluvium was well received, and the band decided to present it live on an extensive European tour, which skipped Slovenia this time but stopped in neighboring Austria.
Accompanying Obscura on the tour were technical death metallers Fallujah, who have already visited Europe a few times, while American Allegaeon were on European soil for the second time, and Canadian First Fragment for the first. This lineup was a real treat for fans of technical and progressive death metal. The Vienna show was originally announced for the big hall of Arena, which takes around a thousand people, but since this is more extreme stuff, the show was moved to Arena’s small hall. Which isn’t the best choice for bands like these, because the hall’s acoustics aren’t great.
Canadian outfit First Fragment is definitely promising. Sadly, they couldn’t win us over with their show in Arena’s small hall. The sound was catastrophic. The instruments were almost indistinguishable to the very end. Music like First Fragment’s calls for a good hall with a capable sound engineer. The band ran through songs from the album Dasein plus one novelty that will be on the new album, which is currently in the works. First Fragment play fast, technical death metal with neoclassical solos, where the bass lines of Dominic Lapointe (ex-Beyond Creation) stand out. It’s all pretty brutal, of course, but it was so muddy that it came across as one big mess. First Fragment deserve a second chance, because the band showed a lot on the album, and all they need for a good performance is decent enough conditions.
With American outfit Allegaeon the sound finally improved, so their set was that much easier to enjoy. The band had a measly half hour, but in that time they definitely proved they’re one of the hottest extreme metal acts right now. They showed off excellent tightness, virtuosity and aggression. Allegaeon served up a great mix of technical and melodic death metal. Alongside familiar songs like All Hail Science, Gray Matter Mechanics, 1.618 and Biomech, the band also dished out a novelty, Stellar Tidal Disruption. They have a fifth album already announced, which confirms their work ethic and constant creativity. Allegaeon’s potential is undoubtedly strong. Sure, it’s an extreme band, but their playing, precision and confident show make it clear that they deserve all the attention.
California’s technical death metallers Fallujah have already played European clubs several times. This time the band came back with a slightly altered lineup. The most obvious change was the new vocalist, who also recorded the new album with them. The tightness of the band is still at a high level, the rhythm section is on point, and the guitars are still a strong factor. The atmosphere really stands out, helped along by the lights, which put even more emphasis on the dreaminess and morbidity of the music. New vocalist Antonio Palermo is a matter of getting used to. He’s more of a screaming type of vocalist, while the growls are still there, but they no longer have the depths of his predecessor. The new songs don’t convince yet because of the different approach, while the staples Carved From Stone, Sapphire, Scar Queen and The Void Alone got more than a good response from the crowd. Fallujah remain something special, but judging by the new album, something different is on the way, and it may not suit everyone.
German outfit Obscura have earned an almost enviable status in recent years. Though you couldn’t really feel that in Vienna’s small hall. If ten years ago Obscura came across as a band that still had a lot to learn, this time the picture was quite different. Obscura’s performance is uncompromising. The new songs from Diluvium (review HERE) are convincing. It’s a bit distracting that the band uses pre-recorded parts for the clean vocals, or rather those synthesized vocals that are a staple of the band. In about an hour Obscura played a cross-section of their career. As a surprise, they brought back Septuagint from the album Omnivium, though the focus was mostly on the last two albums. Among the staples, they also played Incarnated from the album Cosmogenesis, which celebrated its 10th anniversary right at this show.
There’s nothing to complain about when it comes to the band’s tightness. If during the last album it seemed like the band was still looking for the right balance among the new members, this time that had already been achieved. Every member nailed their part. Steffen Kummerer, guitarist and vocalist, has become convincing in the communication department too. The crowd took it all in with wild moshing. Bassist Linus Klausenitzer is a true virtuoso. His lines are complex and standout. Drummer Sebastian Lanser is the kind of drummer many bands would love to have. Lanser combines the aggression of death metal with the dynamics of jazz fusion. Rafael Trujillo, a guitarist who isn’t even 25 yet, shredded solos throughout the whole show. The schooling is more than obvious, and the precision just never runs out. Obscura closed the show with the evergreen Anticosmic Overload. With that they confirmed their top form, and by the looks of it, they’re currently unstoppable.
The smaller hall of Vienna’s Arena hosted a show that fans of technical and progressive death metal welcomed with open arms. Obscura, together with Fallujah, Allegaeon and First Fragment, put on an unforgettable night despite the hall’s subpar acoustics.
author: Primož Novak
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
