Obsessör

Artist: 
Album Title: 
Assassins Of The Pentagram
Release Date: 
Friday, May 30, 2014
Review Type: 

Obsessör are not that ‘old’, but they did impress several times with a fine mini-album in 2009 (Black Thrashing Blasphemy), an interesting split with Malaysia’s Storming Steels (Ultimate Thrashing Demons, released in 2012), and of course their grandiose debut full length Blitzkrieg battalion (2011). Earlier this year they released a split-EP with Germany’s Hellhunt, and last year they recorded a 7”EP, called Black Magic Rites. And if you focus on the titles of all these releases, doesn’t it give you an idea of what this band stands for? Indeed, I thought so.

Obsessör’s second full length is called Assassins Of The Pentagram, and seen the title it does go on within the very same vein. And that isn’t but hurray-stuff, of course, for there might be no reason to expect a drastic change of style. There is none, I assure you. This new album, which lasts for about thirty seven minutes, brings nothing new, nor nothing renewing at all. It’s a non-original interpretation of Eighties-oriented Black / Thrash / Speed / Heavy Metal (what is going on anyway; nowadays we are kind of overpowered by this kind of prehistoric stuff – think new material by, for example, Bunker 66, Nocturnal Witch, Midnight, Bölzer, Šmiercieslaŭ, Pest, Lurking Evil etc…; check the recent updates on the site to find out, or look out for upcoming reviews; and don’t forget: I am not complaining!).

But I’ll be honest (as I always [try to] do). Some band do impress with their interpretation of the Old School, some do not. Obsessör, unfortunately, lies somewhere in between. There is nothing wrong with their performance. There is nothing wrong with their attitude. There is nothing wrong with the production and sound either. A problem is that most tracks sound way too alike. The tempo, the melodies, the rhythms; the whole album sounds way too flat. It sounds like a symbiosis of Possessed, Sodom, Hellhammer and Venom (as well as several other bands or projects these guys are or were involved with; think: Zerstörer, Omega, Bulldozing Bastard or defunct (?) Beer Pressure), yet re-interpreted time after time with a lack of inspiration. Also the strength of the concurrence defines (at least a part of) this band’s disadvantage.

Seen the current revival of this specific scene (once again I will refer to the bands I mentioned in the former paragraph), this album might not be the most recommendable at the moment. It’s not bad, but I am not impressed. End of story…

74/100