Obscure & Obscene Gods

Altar of Gore

This is the third of four releases by the band, as it was originally released […]
By "Der Bärtige Mann" Gareth Beams
November 13, 2020
Altar of Gore - Obscure & Obscene Gods album cover

This is the third of four releases by the band, as it was originally released back in February this year, digitally. It has been out on CD for little over a month which is how it was found by Metal Temple. The band has also been involved in 3 split albums: New Jersey Metal Attack Vol. 2, 4 & 5. This is the band's first real dive into an album full-length at least. Let's hear what they have for us.

"Exalted Exsanguination" starts with a decent beat, nothing too frantic, nor slow. The more it goes on, the more common the melody becomes, we've heard this sort of thing before, no complaints, but observations. The vocals, are very distorted and for me, doesn't exactly match the pace, so it has pros and cons. The lack of clarity in the vocals does put many people off and as the tempo rises the lack of vocals does seem to hold it back. It's the tale of instrumental good versus vocals bad theory. Is it the worst song I have ever heard? No. This is a song that will go well enough with mixing into Black Metal playlists.

"Altar of Gore" sets off the beat like a fucking train. The vocals seem a little less distorted, though still have no idea what is being said, but because the melody is also distorted it syncs in better. The melodies aren't as fluid as the last song, so the song needed a spark. It kinda got one with the increase of pace and few varied harmonizes slotted in. there was no quick transformation in the song, so it felt lacking a little more.

"Black Stone Urn" continues with the good pace starts. It also de-distorts the vocals, slightly. The songs are starting to blend a little too much for my liking though. The sound has become stable enough, it has blended all the songs, which isn't always a bad thing, but we want some variety. The Death Metal riffs are back, which add something to this song but are just repeating the same traits.

"Acolyte of the Foul Ones" has another solid start, good pace and tempo, some not bad aggression. Then, as with the other songs, it goes slow again. They are just doing the same loop in each song. Each song is basically the same as the previous, so there is little to add that would just be not be repeated.

"Sanguinary Relics" has a much crisper start to it, im hoping it will carry on. It does drop slightly back into the usual cycle, rather predictably. The pace is better, but there is still no real change of material.

"Obscure & Obscene Gods" is the final song, and it starts off like the other hadn't really ended. There is little else to add to this.

I can't work out if the first song was that good, or it was the only time something was fresh enough to fully enjoy it. This is a very generic sounding album, the material is good, but not expansive enough.

5 / 10

Mediocre

Songwriting

5

Musicianship

5

Memorability

5

Production

5
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"Obscure & Obscene Gods" Track-listing:

1. Introduction
2. Exalted Exsanguination
3. Altar of Gore
4. Black Stone Urn
5. Acolyte of the Foul Ones
6. Sanguinary Relics
7. Obscure & Obscene Gods

Altar of Gore Lineup:

Joe Aversario - Lead Guitar
Acolyte of the Foul Ones - Everything Else

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