OBSCURA: actualité

[Thrashos]

OBSCURA: drummer and guitarist quit

According to their official website, drummer Hannes Grossmann and guitarist Christian Muenzner leave German prog Death Metal band OBSCURA.

Muenzner speaks out:
"My decision to step down from my position as the lead guitar player in Obscura after more than 6 years was not an easy one, but even though it may come unexpected for the majority of fans, it is something I have been contemplating for the last couple of years. There is no bad blood between me and any of the other members of the band. However, I just want to devote the biggest part of the time that I have to work on my own music and visions. Doing this, I just can't invest the bulk of my time into the band, because a band operating at the level of Obscura does not work as a an additional thing or even a 'hobby'. It demands a lot of time and availability, but I I know that if my heart is not fully into the music anymore it is not true to myself, my bandmates or to the fans, and I have always believed that solely the fact that a band is successful or that people expect you to play a certain style of music are not enough of a reason to do it.
A second crucial factor in my decision was that I am still dealing with a neurologic condition in my fretting hand called Focal Dystonia, which almost took the ability to play guitar away from me completely by late 2011/early 2012. Even though I regained most of my chops by now through re-training and Botox therapy, the condition is still there and I have to be very careful not to relapse and undo my progress by putting too much strain on my hand, which is why touring several months on an album cycle with material that brings me to the edge of my technical ability every night is not an option for me anymore in the near future. The slightest chance of recovery or at least further improvement have absolute priority for me in the coming years, as I want to be able to play guitar and release music for much longer. Thus I decided to focus mainly on my teaching career and on writing and recording my own music for now. I will remain very active and you will hear a lot of new music from me in the future.
I still consider all past and present members in Obscura that I played with among my very best friends, and the album recordings and tours we did in the last 6 years are among the greatest memories of my life so far. The band took me all around the world several times and I got to meet thousands of great people and fans. I want to thank all of you for your support, even in the tough times when my condition was at its worst. I do not exclude the possibility of future collaborations with each of the other members and wish the band the best of luck for the future.”
Grossmann speaks out:
"Leaving the band was a difficult choice to make, but it was also a big relief. In the last two years it just became more and more obvious that the musical chemistry between band founder Steffen and me just wasn't right anymore. It's not a personal issue, it's a musical one. For the last two records I contributed a large amount of music, including most of the arrangement work. However this was causing problems, because the band was set up as a collective of songwriters, and so the new record should have been a collective work. In general I also prefer working with other people rather than just doing it on my own. However, my musical vision was going into the direction of songs like 'Aevum' or 'Septuagint', maybe in terms of complexity even further. Steffen's ideas are musically rather in the vein of the Comogenesis album. But I wanted to explore a way different side of Obscura. The catchy 'Anticosmic Overload'-side just doesn't really hook me emotionally. In the end it's hard to explain to an outsider, but our musical taste and vision for the band's future are just incompatible at this point. It even started to affect our personal relationship and I don't think that it's worth sacrificing our friendship for personal issues. That's why I decided to quit the band and record the songs I wrote with my new band ALKALOID."
Due to the mentioned lineup changes recordings for the yet untitled fourth album have to be postponed to the end of 2014. To replace both, Christian Muenzner and Hannes Grossmann, a row of auditions will be launched soon.

J'ai du mal à imaginer le groupe sans Muezner...

[Mr. Sandman]

Vu que les 2 bonhommes ont leurs projets solos, ces départs ne sont pas des surprises...mais ça fait un peu chier.

[Mr. Sandman]

Leur nouveau batteur est Sebastian Lanser (of Panzerballett).

Pour le voir un peu en action :

[Everflow]

Et le nouveau guitariste :

Obscura's complete new lineup has been revealed! A few days after they announced Sebastian Lanser as their new drummer, it's time to introduce the new guitarist that replaces Christian Muenzner. He is Tom "Fountainhead" Geldschläger (Fountainhead) and who was also a guest on Hannes Grossmann's solo album The Radial Covenant. If you want to see him in action, check out the two videos below.

Tom "Fountainhead" Geldschläger says: "It gives me great pleasure to announce that I've joined Obscura as their new guitar player. Having already worked with Linus and past members Christian and Hannes in recent projects and having followed the band's career closely since their very first tour, the transition felt completely natural. Taking over Christian's duties in the band makes me feel equal parts proud and at ease, since we've known and respected each other for many years. I'm very much looking forward to touring the world with my fantastic new band-mates, entering the studio for a new record VERY soon and also being able to bring my playing on both fretted and fretless guitars to a wider audience through this exciting new opportunity."

[Everflow]

Nouvel album :

It has been five years since the release of OBSCURA's universally acclaimed "Omnivium" album. Now the progressive metal masters return with their strongest and most dynamic release to date. The aptly named "Akróasis" (Greek for "hearing" or "listening") draws on all the various elements of OBSCURA's signature sound and combines those qualities into a cohesive and mind-blowing whole.

A trailer featuring samples of new music from "Akróasis" is available below.

"Akróasis" will be released February 5, 2016 via Relapse Records. The album will be available in CD, 2xLP and as a digital download.

Physical pre-orders for "Akróasis" are available here and digital pre-orders can be found here.

"With 'Akróasis', we produced our grand opus featuring eight songs of fluent arrangements, odd time signatures never heard before in metal, and the most high-end production in the history of the band," says OBSCURA founder and frontman Steffen Kummerer. "Without question, 'Akróasis' is the heaviest, most complex record we have made to date. We cannot wait to perform live again and bring this excellent music to stages around the globe."

Produced by the band and V. Santura (TRIPTYKON, PESTILENCE), "Akróasis" is eight songs diverse enough to serve as a near-comprehensive introduction to all of extreme metal. Packed to the gills with virtuosic musicianship, compelling themes, and airtight songwriting, "Akróasis" will undoubtedly breathe new life into death metal, progressive metal and beyond.

Founded in 2002 by Kummerer, OBSCURA caused a stir when it toured as support for the legendary SUFFOCATION on the band's European tour in 2006 and independently released its debut album, "Retribution", that same year. From its very beginnings, the band (named after GORGUTS' inimitable 1993 full-length) demonstrated an uncanny ability for blending different forms of technical, cerebral metal into a coherent synthesis of death, thrash and black metal merged with progressive elements.

"Akróasis" track listing:

01. Sermon Of The Seven Suns
02. The Monist
03. Akróasis
04. Ten Sepiroth
05. Ode To The Sun
06. Fractal Dimension
07. Perpetual Infinity
08. Weltseele
09. Melos (deluxe vinyl bonus track)
10. The Origin Of Primal Expression (CD bonus track)

OBSCURA is:

Steffen Kummerer - Vocals, Guitar
Rafael Trujillo - Guitar
Linus Klausenitzer - Bass
Sebastian Lanser - Drums

Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/obscur ... E0Hqi3J.99

[Mr. Sandman]

A noter encore un changement de guitariste.
Toutefois la nouvelle recrue ne joue pas sur l'album à venir.

[Mr. Sandman]

[Mr. Sandman]

Un autre teaser :

[Everflow]

Du tricotage par ici :

http://loudwire.com/obscura-sermon-of-t ... -premiere/

[Mr. Sandman]

3ème morceau en ligne :

[Mr. Sandman]

[Mr. Sandman]

On va avoir tout l'album à ce rythme :



Je suis de moins en moins fan des vocaux par contre.

[Everflow]

Là y'a pas de vocaux, mais de l'acoustique, c'est le bonus :



Très chouette, mais ça fait aussi beaucoup (trop?) penser à "Voice of the Soul" de Death. Bon y'a pire comme référence.

German technical/progressive death metal masters Obscura have recently shared a stream of the tune "The Origin Of Primal Expression," the deluxe CD-only bonus track from their brand new record, Akroasis. You will do well to remember that their first new album in five years came out just last month. "The Origin Of Primal Expression" is a stripped down acoustic piece of the album title track.

Guitarist/vocalist Steffen Kummerer commented on the track: "'The Origin of Primal Expression' shows the title track of our new album stripped down to only one acoustic guitar and is meant to give a slight insight behind the scenes of writing an Obscura song. The two main themes show that certain Death vibes are still present and audible within the multi-layered song structures we work with. The bonus tracks on Akroasis are a gesture of gratitude to everyone who purchases physical copies of the record. Music, lyrics and artworks together build an album and create a certain vibe and flair within the songs that is barely comprehensible with a few files stored on a hard disc."

[Everflow]