Hey there tech fiends, it's that time of the week again. Before we dive into today's focus on Oblivion, here's the usual weekly reminder that if you're looking for even more sick bands, all prior editions of this series can be perused here.
Since their inception, Oblivion has made their mark as a ruthless death metal supergroup of sorts, yet always delivered a quality experience with every release that’s aided by the band’s many different songwriters and contributors. The band's goal of uniting death metal past and present has always been what’s made their music stick out from the bulk of Suffocation and Deeds Of Flesh style technical death metal groups. That’s largely because they also draw heavily from old school death metal, black metal, and slam. Their 2013 debut, Called To Rise, really put the band on the map from the get-go as a force to be reckoned with. Last year the group dropped their murderous second album, The Path Towards and I was psyched to get to help launch an early single for it here in this space.
The band had written a second album at the same time as The Path Towards and next week on Monday, January 21st the group’s self-titled album will be officially released. Before it’s out, we’ve got an early premiere of another excellent new single today entitled “Fear What is Unknown”.
Oblivion vocalist Nick Vasallo explained the lyrics and concept of “Fear What is Unknown” thusly “ASI emerges as autonomous agent, with no clear moral or ethical orientation. The when and how of its emergence may not be clear to humans; goals of ASI lie outside of human comprehension. Editorial notes: A.S.I. stands for "Artificial Super-Intelligence", which is the AI that vastly transcends all of human capability, making humans look like ants in comparison. The ASI doesn't emerge plainly, but rather its existence is vaguely sensed by how the flow of civilization is changing, behaving in an odd unison that is achieved by the ASI's inscrutable systematic influence.”
That sounds like a fitting backdrop for the kind of machine-like precision swarming hostility and complex assault on display throughout “Fear What is Unknown”
The group told me they going for a darker and epic note to end the two album cycle and they definitely achieved that vision on “Fear What is Unknown” and the entirety of Oblivion – Oblivion. There’s plenty of sick riffs and bone-crushing slams, eerie darkness, killer skin-flaying brutality, energetic drumkit destruction at all times, ferocious vocals, and sharp shred heavy flourishes that come in at just the right times. This song has it all. So check out “Fear What is Unknown” below and if you’re digging it, pre-orders are available at the Oblivion Bandcamp Page. You can follow the group over on the Oblivion Facebook Page.
