Review Summary: Where it all started for these Scandinavians.
When most people think of the metal scene from Norway, there's a good chance that the first thing that comes to mind is the infamous second wave black metal scene and all the crazy things that came along with it. However, there's a particular band from those parts that are leading the charge of the modern death metal scene along with bands such as Ulcerate, Funebrarum, and Hooded Menace, and their name is Obliteration.
These guys really started gaining attention with their 2009 album
Nekropsalms and also their newest album
Black Death Horizon and with good reason. Both albums take the old-school approach of face melting death metal mixed with some filth drenched doom metal as the guys from Autopsy and Incantation perfected in the 90's.
Perpetual Decay is Oblitetation's debut album and while you might not think its quite on the level of the others, it's honestly not far behind at all and it's just another reason to think that these guys are leading the pack in terms of post-2000 death metal bands.
This album is more focused on the death metal side of things and there isn't too many slow doom-esque moments to be found here to be honest. What it does do, however, is riff harder than the other two albums. You'll undeniably realize that
Perpetual Decay is a lot faster than the others and even tighter. The production isn't as murky, but also isn't completely clean like you would hear on let's say a moder tech death album. The doom still shows up every once in a while, but the main thing that this does is pound you straight into the depths of hell for the entire 34 minute experience and that's just as good. The vocals are fantastic as well, sounding like a more guttural version of Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse fame.
If you're a fan of old school death metal and haven't heard these guys yet then this would be a great place to start. All of Obliteration's albums have different things to offer and every one of them is worth your time. Riff lovers everywhere will most likely want to start here and work your way through to the others. Being that this is just a debut only goes to show that Obliteration are one of the top death metal bands of the modern scene, if not the very best.
