For this edition of Mashup Spotlight we will be throwing our gaze (and ears) upon Obliteration’s 2018 release entitled ‘Cenotaph Obscure’. Very nearly taking the top spot for Metal Mashup’s top death metal album of 2018 away from Rivers of Nihil’s ‘Where Owls Know My Name’, ‘Cenotaph Obscure’ is an album close to the hearts of those around the Mashup offices. Loved for everything from its artwork to its attitude, the visceral tones of this album follow us long after the tracks have stopped spinning.

Hailing from Norway’s Kolbotn, a town now famous for producing blackened acts such as Darkthrone, Aura Nior and Lamented Souls, Obliteration was anointed into metal cannon during 2001. In the 6 years before the band’s debut album ‘Perpetual Decay’, which was released via cult label Tyrant Syndicate, a sub-division of Peaceville Records, the band worked to find themselves with experimentations into a punk influence and even unholy dabbles into playing with two masters of the low end (bassists) at the same time. All while skirting around the edge of the black metal scene as if drawing power from it.

Harkening back to the murky, brutal aesthetics of early 1990’s era death metal, Obliteration’s 2009 release entitled ‘Nekropsalms’ stood apart from the normalcies of their contemporaries to sit atop the budding old school revivalist movement. With a blackened sense of atmospheric freedom, ‘Nekropsalms’ helped apply a greater lens to the previously overlooked innovations of underground Norwegian death metal, diverting much needed attentions toward Norwegian black metal’s younger, yet no less ferocious, little brother. Yet for as cutting edge as Obliteration may have been, they never fully shook off their black metal upbringing. Instead, with several members heavily involved with the black trash band Nekromantheon, the band have incorporated the encroaching darkness and visceral tremolos of the black metal sound to create a brand of death metal far removed from the efforts of their American contemporaries and the growing melodic death metal movement.

Now with album number four, ‘Cenotaph Obscure’ opens with an almost militaristic drum beat that sits atop some discordant guitar jabs specifically composed to draw the listener willingly towards the caustic slaughter that it set to befall them. Lasting just over a minute, these opening moments are the only flashes of respite available for the listener on this album. Devoid of melodic moments of reassurance, this album opens with an unprovoked throat punch and ends with an unprovoked throat punch. Bringing waves of chaotic brutality across your speakers, everything about this album’s sound is desperate. Even during songs like ‘Eldritch Summoning’ that incorporates some classic doom vibes, you can feel the panic permeating every nook and cranny of this release.

Bombarded by visceral tremolos and the album’s signature naked riffs, to the casual listener the album’s untamed atheistic may not sound particularly innovative beyond its attempts to channel the devastation of old school death. Yet the more you listen to Sindre Solem’s barbaric vocals and the commanding drumming of Kristian Valbo, the more you see the album’s surprising depth and subtle atmospheric twists. Making for one of the most compelling death metal records available, with ‘Cenotaph Obscure’ Obliteration strike the perfect balance between old-school brutality and blackened atmospherics all while walking a tightrope between hook and progression, aggression and ambiance.

Becoming more juicy with each listen, we at Metal Mashup cannot recommend this album enough. Give it a try and if you survive, we can promise that you will not be disappointed.

By Matthew Young