by El Chief

Obscura has almost turned me into a fan. Germany's progressive metal stalwarts are back with their sixth full-length, "Diluvium." It's packed to the rafters with impressive tempo shifts, brilliant arrangements, and a compelling storyline about a massive oceanic flood. 

Obscura works best, though, when they turn away from the worst elements of progressive metal: ridiculous high-pitched vocals and guitars tuned so high that no dog is safe within a three-mile radius. Thankfully, "Diluvium" doesn't tarry long in those absurd waters. Instead, the quartet wades deep into aggressive waters churned by the likes of Beyond Creation and Psyrcroptic. That's not to say Obscura is a clone of those bands. "Diluvium" is composed to fall on the lighter side of the technical death metal spectrum, and sometimes they dabble a little too much in dead territory plowed by the likes of Coheed & Cambria.

What saves Obscura, even in those moments, is that the musicians are gifted enough to never lose their souls. Too often, the genre feels like it's being played by automatons, never stirring emotions in the way that progressive metal is supposed to achieve. Whether you like what Obscura is playing, you can't deny that "Diluvium" will suck you in and make you feel.

The rest of this year is being prepped for releases from like-minded artists (The Ocean, Beyond Creation, Psycroptic, just to name a few). I can only hope that they will be as good as this one.