I knew a band called OBSIDIAN but when I searched to find some info about them, I came across six different bands with the same name! I don't know which band I had heard about but that's not the point now. The point is that I read some biography info that seem pretty interesting (at least to me) and I am a fan of this band's singer, so it seems this will be a really pleasant and brutal review.

OBSIDIAN hail from BB Amsterdam (I didn't know such a city existed), Netherlands and they were formed in 1997. Even though they are active for ten whole years, they have only released two demo CD's and one full-length album. This album was originally released in 2006 and was self-financed, but then the band parted ways with its former singer Serge Regoor. A replacement was found (Robbe K) and the band managed to sign a contract with Rusty Cage Records.

They decided to re-release the album through Rusty Cage with newly recorded vocals and a production by Jochem Jacobs (TEXTURES, CYPHER), which by the way kicks ass! I unfortunately didn't have the chance to listen to the first edition of the album, so I will just say my opinion on this one. For all of you who listen to this name for the first time, OBSIDIAN is a melodic Death Metal band with some Progressive Metal touches. All those elements create a pretty interesting style that draws influences from bands like DARK TRANQUILLITY, ARCH ENEMY, ANATA and from the fresher AUGURY. Robbe's voice is amazing as always, though he uses cleaner vocals than he does with his other bands (DISAVOWED & ARSEBREED). The melodies and all this shit are cool, but this style of music is rather common. I think that OBSIDIAN do not offer something new to the melodic Death Metal scene, but they definitely manage to avoid the pile of mediocre shit. The album's eight compositions are full of more than decent melodies, great vocals and a really good production, but that isn't enough to make them make the difference.

Robbe and his gang offer an album full of good melodic Death Metal and the fans will be more than willing to accept this gift. The fact is that I don't know if melodic Death Metal fans will prefer Emerging instead of DARK TRANQUILLITY's or GOD DETHRONED's latest albums. Anyway, if you are into this style of music, you won't be disappointed for sure!