Label: Via Nocturna
Date: September 27th, 2024
Is there any better way to mark a decade of existence than to release a new album? Obsidian Mantra did it with their 3rd album, “As We All Will” in September, and it is not just a celebration of decade in the metal world, but celebration of the band’s progress and evolution. Whoever knows the band will notice that the band changed the sound. This darker, heavier atmosphere suits me more than one served on the previous two albums. Technically, the band serves very precise death metal. Uncompromising, aggressive, crushing, intense, precise, complex, variety are the epithets that describe the album the best. I will stop and focus on this epithet complex. When we are talking about the Obsidian Mantra, we could say it is progressive death metal. But… When I am writing this, I just realized that the word layers instead of complex describes the band better. Why? As already written, the base is progressive death metal. But… There is always this but… On this album you will hear groove (on previous albums this was the main) but you will also recognize black metal influences especially in the first song that instantly associates to their compatriots, Behemoth. Aggression of course you can hear in the vocal interpretation but also in great guitar work. Besides the vocal is aggressive and brutal, Kacper Kajzderski pulls you to the waters of black metal too. Speaking of the first song, “What Is Not, Is Not”, calling back on one of the epithets of the album, variety, in four minutes, the band showed that it can easily combine death metal with progressive elements along with black metal. In the next song “Cult of Depression” which was followed by the video, Obsidian Mantra proved that they know what they do, that they can combine subgenres and most of all, that they keep the listeners awake.
Speaking of variety, nothing is drastic and dramatic, the mix of subgenres is very well balanced. The atmosphere in this song is a bit darker which is also very well balanced with the lyrics. If the “Slave Without a Master” is a bone crusher I do not know what I would say for the “Who Will Become a Murderer”. Aggressiveness and brutality are in the first plan here. “Condemned to Oppression” just naturally flows and here you can conclude that Mateusz Wróbel did a hell of a job. “Chaos Will Consume Us All” is a bit heavier when it comes to lyrics and hand to hand with lyrics, music delivers a darker and depressive atmosphere. “Sowers of Discord” turns slightly n the direction of Fear Factory waters, while the last one, “Weavers of Misery”, brings diversity back (tempo especially), the atmosphere is especially chaotic, effective and will not remain you indifferent not only when it comes to this song but the whole album.
Despite the fact this is technically a very precise album, you can feel the emotion. It is not just about the demonstration of musical skills, but also includes a high amount of social awareness which, naturally, lyrical content shows. For example, as the band states:
“Cult of Depression takes on the modern portrayal of mental illness. The lyrics criticize the trend of romanticizing depression, delving into themes of self-abandonment, treating depression as part of one’s identity, and the false comfort found in shared suffering.”
Cover art, I have to admit, would never ever attract my attention because if I saw it in a store, I would say this CD doesn’t belong to the metal section. Don’t judge a book by its covers. Pilar Martinez did a good job because the album cover depicts the depth of the lyrics. And the lyrics itself, as you can conclude from the song titles, are focused on various aspects of human psychology: depression, addictions, inner conflicts, self-destruction…
As expected, production is at a high level.
In a few words: each song on this album is interesting, short and effective enough, both, musically and lyrically.
