Oh, damn, OBSCURE BURIAL must've heard someone talking shit about Finnish Death Metal, so they released their self-titled debut to set us all straight! Why else would the album start off with so much deliberate intimidation? A chorus of buzzing blackflies gives way to squealing guitars as lead L.K. belts out his best zombified growl in the opening track "Lucilla Silvarim". The first track is just intended to size you up before it kicks up the tempo, encircling you with frothing rabid strings and clattering cymbals intending to make piecemeal out of you.

An avalanche of drumbeats gets your attention in "Imago Mortis" and promptly buries you while L.K. sings your funeral lament. OBSCURE BURIAL is a swirling maelstrom of sound that leaves you scrambling to collect your bearings. They don't believe in any subtle arpeggios, or calm breaks between audio pummeling's, they are here to surround you in Earth-shattering noise while holding your head under until the bubbles stop. There are vicious, piranha-like chords swimming beneath those frenetic waters, too. I know this is accurate for shapes, but is it possible to describe sounds as 'non-Euclidean'? Because there are moments in certain tracks where the tempo doesn't sound like it's following a typical beat pattern; uneven.

I don't know why, but I imagine "I Spoke to Darkness (Black Deserts Divine)" being sung by a disgusting flea. A flea with an unearthly tone of voice, and a thirst for blood as dissonant notes of fuzz loll limply in the rafters. It's unnerving as it is darkly hypnotic with steady, loping bassline and drums. It's all meant to catch you off guard, promising you that the next part won't hurt a bit before tossing you in a blender of sound set to 'Liquify'.

"Transcending Deity" shows off just how powerful said deity is with ear rending guitars and intense octaves. "Dweller in the Abyss" offers no respite from the unending torment with undulating bass and piercing vocals ranting incoherently in the depths of some darkened mausoleum. The album rounds out with a cacophony of cymbals and wriggling, eel-like power chords in "Dawn of Eschaton". Fitting, as the name literally means "end of the world".

OBSCURE BURIAL does their job well, and they show their competition just who exactly they are up against when it comes to skull-shattering riffs and insidious vocal snarls. They won't rest until your ears have prolapsed and your brain starts leaking out of them!