We Derive in Death Metal Excellence:  Obscura and Companys’ Fantastic Performance at the Brick by Brick in San Diego

February 3rd, 2022

3+ plus years ago, Obscura embarked on an absolutely stunning Fall North American tour, bringing Beyond Creation, Archspire, Inferi, and Exist alongside them, to packed, sold-out shows.  One of my good friends argued it might have been one of the strongest tour lineups ever, and it would be difficult to refute that claim.  Then suddenly, the pandemic occurred, and the amount of time we’ve all lost in countless, indescribable ways, is something we may never get back.

Jump to 2022, Obscura returns to North America, on 40+ shows to perform, with the first night starting at Brick by Brick in San Diego, California.  And, Obscura most recently as of November, released their newest album in 3+ years, A Valediction.  You can’t ask for a much better return for the new year.

It took an hour or so after doors opened, for the majority of the crowd to arrive, but there was enough to give the first band and only opener tonight, Corpsemaker, a sizeable round of applause.  I wouldn’t expect that band name with the Technical Death Metal that they play, but it’s sometimes better to be surprised than not.  The musicianship was immediately highlighted, watching Mai-Coh Black perform beautiful tapping riffs on the bass, perfectly in his element and enhancing the rapid melodies from guitarists Alonzo Larios and Colton Woodley.  The solo tradeoffs between Larios and Woodley, jumping from a flowing waterfall, to these intricate string-skipping tapping all around the fretboard, showed the flavor, abilities, and uniqueness of Corpsemaker.  It didn’t look like there was much room to move around due to the amount of equipment on-stage, but Alex Griffen’s headbanging and solid growls kept that intensity throughout their set.  The drummers tonight proved to be astonishing, with no exception to Jack Owens, constantly in motion and catching the eye of many in the audience.  Corpsemaker made a strong account of their performance, and would especially fit on the upcoming Dark Tranquillity/Kataklysm/Nailed to Obscurity tour.

1.  Cube of Insanity

2.  A Perverse Inclination

3.  The Carnal Fiend

4.  A Father’s Resolution

5.  Embryostasis

The most welcoming surprise for myself, came with Interloper, Melodic/Progressive Metal with some Metalcore elements.  No bass player in the band, which considering the remarkable strides the instrument has made especially in the Metal genre, surprising to say the least.  Nevertheless, the dynamic was of light colours, and gorgeous textures within the choruses and interludes.  It was quite a change watching Andrew Virrueta sing clean vocals and play mostly rhythm on guitar, as I’m used to the spastic, dissonance he plays with in Vampire Squid.  But his excellent musicianship and writing style, translated in Interloper:  Bright choruses with some dark melodies within the lower vocal lines, and an upbeat tempo that had many in the crowd dance along to.  Miles Baker’s lead guitarwork flowed with Virrueta’s vocal work, adding more melody to this joyful affair.  Drummer Aaron Stechauner, hitting that snare from the heavens with such force.  It felt like he was the type of player to never cheat learning, attentive to detail and having the fundamentals sound.  His aggressiveness yet clean technique deserves major props and attention, and it made for a happy-medium between the lighter guitar work, and powerful precision.  I felt like I was back in 2008 with the “Metalcore scene”, with a notably younger audience than you’d see at Extreme Metal shows, but if both scenes can work together, bringing in more crowds, I’m all for it.  Interloper’s infectious energy onstage, and the colourful musicianship, my favorite performance from the openers.

By this point, the main floor was heavily packed, with Vale of Pnath not wasting any time getting this crowd going.  I especially loved the light backdrop on their playing, with heavy red/green colours that made the band almost like silhouettes, Meshuggah-in-a-way.  It was a few years the last time I heard and saw them play, completely forgotten the pace of Vale of Pnath.  Relentless Technical Death Metal, indeed.  Ken Sorceron, filling in for the band live setting wise, did a fabulous job on the material, with his signature shriek keeping up easily with Eric Brown’s sonic blast beats.  But personally, I actually more enjoyed the two new songs they performed, “Burning Light” and “Shadow”.  The clean picked passages added a subtle element to Vale of Pnath’s intensity, showing the band’s ability to venture out and provide even more to their sound.  Moshpits ensued during their 30-minute set, feeding off the energy and technical riffing Vale of Pnath puts forth.  If the newer material performed tonight is a sign of things to come, Vale of Pnath will have a monster album on their hands, and was better than time around for me than previous.

1.  Spectre of Bone

2.  Skin Turned Soil

3.  Accursed

4.  Burning Light

5.  Shadow

6.  Darkest Gate

I was told by one of the owners that Obscura was doing pre-production at Brick by Brick for the past couple of days.  Getting the equipment set for the tour, proper equipment checks, soundcheck practices, and other promotion/label duties.  I wish venues would do this more, and I commend Brick by Brick for continuing to be a must-see when it comes to venues in San Diego.

It also was the reason that Obscura went onstage a mere 10 minutes after Vale of Pnath performed.  The crowd moving even closer to the front, cheers and genuine excitement for Obscura’s first performance in the states since late 2018.  As soon as the PA intro for “Forsaken” was heard, the venue erupted into a frenzy, as Obscura was met with such an ovation, ready to display their Progressive Technical Death Metal mastery.

As I’ve previously stated, new album cycle or not, I enjoy when bands take chances, don’t refer to “Greatest Hits” sets, and let each tour provide a different story.  6 of the songs taken from their latest record, A Valediction, were represented tonight.  Hearing the album twice thus far, the material was more “stripped down” than say Diluvium and Omnivium.  Still quite technical, but faster-picking riffs, shorter songs than their average, and more for the live setting.  “Solaris” hit the crowd like a cement truck, 3.5+ minutes of Death Metal fury, while the title track, having this anthem-like feel with the opening riff.  The songs definitely translated especially well live, with the audience eager to hear the latest material.  “Devoured Usurper” was a goliath live, the only low growl song on the record, and hearing Steffen Kummerer’s outstanding gutturals on this, simply goosebump worthy.  I enjoyed the sudden tempo change and “Punk-ish” riff after the 2nd rendition of the chorus, and live, the moshing went up to 11 at this point of the song.  I like the newest record a lot, not quite to the level of say a couple of others, but especially in a concert setting?  I definitely see many of these songs staying in the future staple, especially the later mentioned.

Obscura’s wonderous musicianship, from technical guitar duels, the prominent bass contributions, woven atmosphere scaling clean guitars to a tornado of blasting venom, shined all through their set, including the older material.  A shame on me that this was the first time I got to see Christian Munzner perform live, and it more than lived up to the hype.  The unbelievable dexterity and sheer knowledge of the material played, was immensely highlighted during “Universe Momentum”.  Christian’s solo in it is one of the most memorable moments of Obscura for myself, and certainly many of the crowds, as the shocked hushes and number of wows I heard, clarified just as much.  Due to visa issues, bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling and drummer David Diepold were unable to be on this tour.  But no slouches in their own right, Gabe Seeber and Alex Weber would handle their duties the rest of the way, with the former absolutely nailing it with ease.  Weber’s emotionally driven, complex bass riffs shined in “Septuagint”, perfectly heard in the mix.  The infectious, positive energy and smiles from Steffen was joyous, and tearful.  You can see the amount of passion and dedication in Obscura, and his marvelous guitar ability while handing all sorts of vocal styles, in style, showcases the overall, captivating vision he had for this, now 20 years since.  Obscura’s 80-minute set ended with “Incarnated”, a fan-favorite that had the audience in pure, blissful delight.

 (by the way, Gabe Seeber is also on double-duty with Vale of Pnath and Obscura, for this entire tour. Please buy this man a drink, a gift, or anything else to show your support!)

2018, the last time Obscura performed here in North America.  And hoping for a sense of a new normal, we won’t have to wait another close to 4 years for the band, and countless others, to honour us with their prevalent, monumental excellence to what I feel to be, the most spectacular genre:  Extreme Metal.  A valediction, Obscura, but hopefully not too long.

1.  Forsaken

2.  Solaris

3.  Emergent Evolution

4.  The Seventh Aeon

5.  A Valediction

6.  Devoured Usurper

7.  Orbital Elements II

8.  Universe Momentum

9.  Akroasis

10.  Ode to the Sun

11.  Anticosmic Overload

12.  When Star Collide

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13.  Septuagint

14.  Incarnated