Obliveon ‎– Cybervoid

I was moved to write this in response to one of the reviews below, which said that Obliveon's obscurity was justified. I have always felt exactly the opposite, that they were one of the most unjustly overlooked bands in the history of metal. It will probably be ages before anyone stumbles upon this review, since they are so unknown. While a number of their fellow bands in the Quebec metal scene went on to become very influential-- Voivod, Cryptopsy, Gorguts, to name just a few-- Obliveon only developed a tiny following among tech-metal geeks like myself. Very sad, since I think they would appeal to a lot of people. I think they had just as much talent as anyone in the Quebec scene (and therefore in all of metal), which is saying quite a lot. They borrowed quite a bit from Voivod, I think, mainly in there cyber-metal tendencies and willingness to experiment, but they always had their own sound, which was very unique and unsurpassed. From the time of their first demo, the guitars in particular had a spacey tone to them that was harsh but at the same time downright beautiful. The drums always had their own style, too, although the drummer could wander off a bit at times. This unique sound is in evidence on "Cybervoid," although it's not their best album by far (that would be "Nemesis," the album before this one). I don't think it's as technical as their previous albums, or as catchy. The riffs tend to be of the stoccatto variety popular in cyber-metal. They tend to be short, and although they are played with precision, I wouldn't call them all that complex. But the music is hyptonic, almost trance-inducing. You feel like you're being drawn steadily into the grinding gears of some unstoppable machine. The music in general has a very mechanical sound to it. It has some progressive elements in it, with some unconventional chords and sounds inserted here and there. The lyrics are some of the best I've ever heard in metal-- really thoughtful and insightful, with real things to say, not just the usual stuff at all. The vocals are okay, a sort of mid-range growl, not quite a harsh as death metal, but probably a little beyond that of thrash-- they don't compare at all to the ones on "Nemesis," though, which were much more effective and extremely aggressive. The bass is nowhere in the mix, too, which is probably the one major flaw, since the bass really contributed a lot to their previous albums. Obliveon's music requires an open mind, since it contains elements that might put people off. It also requires time to appreciate, since there are a lot of subtle things going on. But they were one of the most inventive bands I've ever heard.