Obscure Reality – Dawn

October 4, 2023

Releasedate: 01-09-2023

Obscure Reality is a metalcore band from Zevenaar, the Netherlands. They have competed in the preliminaries for the Metal Battle this year in Overijssel. Other than that, there is not much known about this band, so we’ll just dive right into the EP.

About the EP

Two of the tracks on this EP, TIME and LIES already got released previously. The EP is now complete with three more tracks and spans just over 23 minutes. The artwork for the first two tracks was already great, and again, the artwork for this EP is awesome. The band proclaims to be a metalcore act, but I’m not so sure about that. It definitely has some metalcore elements, but it feels more like alternative metal to me. The tracks are all mid-tempo, with a very groovy vibe to them.

The first track TIME, has got some Limb Bizkit vibes. The vocalist even tries to mimic Fred Durst’s vocals. It starts groovy, and heavy, with a massive sound. We’ve heard this track before, and the Bizkit vibes are quite nice. Based on the second track’s title, RHYTHM, I was expecting a more up-tempo track. This track however is a lot heavier than the first, but twice as slow. I get where the vocalist wants to go with the vocals, but it doesn’t work quiet yet. Also, there seems to be too many words for the melody to flow nicely.

With RHYTYM, however, we’ve stumbled upon my biggest issue with this whole EP: the clean vocals. The grunts and screams match the music perfectly, and the music, while generic at times, is just fine. But the clean vocals are really off-key. There might be a deliberate reason for such a vocal melody, but I don’t get it. To me, it just sounds off-key and honestly, for some tracks that’s a reason not to listen to it again. AWAKE is one of them. The same goes for the chorus from LIES.

The final track of this EP, DAWN, might actually be the best track of the album. It’s definitely the most diverse and I like the deep grunts on this track, as well as the guitar riffs in the verse. But again, if the vocalist would have screamed the whole chorus, it would have been even better. It’s also the most extensive track, spanning over 6 minutes, with of course including a lengthy and well written guitar solo.

Final Verdict

I’m not a fan. Yet. There are some good moments in each one of these tracks, but the vocals really put a damper on it for me. I’m curious to see how this band will progress. If there is a little more screaming and grunts instead of the clean vocals, I would definitely give the next EP a listen.