Öblivїon – Resilience
Rock of Angels Records
Release Date: 23/02/2018
Running Time: 51:42
Review by Dawn “The Metal Priestess” King
9/10
As much as I don’t like to make comparisons between bands, it’s kind of hard not to when three fifths of the French band Öblivïon originate from power metal band of the 2000’s, Nightmare.
Having parted ways with the latter band, vocalist Jo Amore, brother David Amore and keyboardist (although now guitarist) Steff Rabilloud, form the basis of Öblivïon, along with 6-string bassist Markus Fortunato (Fortunato, ex-MZ) and new guitar hero from the extreme metal scene, Flo Lagoutte (Forsaken World), and they have already established themselves in France and Europe with a series of concert and festival appearances.
Recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Pat ‘Magician’ Liotard (Nightmare. Now or Never) at Peek Studios in the South of France, Resilience is their anticipated and promising debut album and was released by Rock of Angels Records on 23rd February 2018.
Promising that this album will “blow the minds of melodic, modern power metal lovers”, Öblivïon are proud to fly the flag for melodic metal through solid, lyrical and powerful melodic songs using twin guitars and hooks, along with an unrestrained speedy pace with some progressive and symphonic elements thrown in and topped off with some great lyrics.
The album opens with ‘Spectral Warrior’, an epic opening to a classic power metal album, with drum rolls and angelic, choral vocals, before the unmistakable sound of Nightmare kicks in on track number two, ‘Honor And Glory’, evident even from the opening notes.
Now, I am not saying this is a blatant rip-off of the Nightmare sound as Öblivïon have brought their own ideas to the table too. They are a more hard-rock band, inspired more by traditional heavy metal, and they focus more on epic choruses than Nightmare did, a fact Öblivïon have never shied away from, but with the singer, keyboardist and drummer from said previous band, its hard not to have some hints of the previous sound.
Amore delivers some of his most striking melody lines to date, his voice traditionally heavy metal with just enough gravel thrown in to be powerful and strong but one which also has the ability to throw in some elements of the symphonic.
One of the things that does set Öblivïon apart from Nightmare is the use of twin-guitars with an abundance of powerful solos, and the galloping riffs that thunder through all the tracks are one of my favourite parts of the album. Rumbling drums and adept bass playing make for a fantastic rhythm section and nothing can fault the quality of musicianship and lyrical content.
Personally, I think this album gets better the further into it you get. The tracks develop more structure and there appears to be separation of the tracks. The first few songs sound too similar but after these each track has its own personality and identity. I don’t think there is a single “filler” on this album and ending with the powerful ‘Dreamer Believer’ was a great finish to a great album.
This album will, indeed, blow the minds of modern power metal lovers. It has all the hallmarks of traditional power metal but has been brought right up to date. I can’t wait for these guys to tour over here in England as I will be right there in the front row!!
A ‘must listen to’ album!
The bonus disk is a DVD recording of their live performance at Leym’Fest in France on September 2nd, 2017. The DVD features the full show, including seven brand new heavy metal tracks and three previous Nightmare songs, a bonus section featuring interviews with all members of the band and a trailer section.
The venue was the Ancien Casernement, Leyment, France, which from the DVD looks quite a small-ish venue making it quite an “intimate gig” but what a gig?! I would have loved to have been in the front row!
Amore’s voice, apart from a few crackles and dropped notes, sounds much the same as it does on the recorded CD, and the band, obviously a more mature band (I didn’t quite know how to say that without sounding offensive!) fill the stage with as much passion and energy as a band half their age.
If this DVD is anything to go by, then these guys need to get their arses over to England and do a few performances here.
I, for one, will be there and I’m sure a lot of other power metal and traditional metal heads will be too!
CD TRACKLISTING:
01. Spectral Warrior
02. Honor And Glory
03. In The Arms Of A Queen
04. Bells From Babylon
05. Shine In My Galaxy
06. I Throught I Was A King
07. Evil Spell
08. Punished By The Crowd
09. Facing The Enemies
10. Race Is On
11. Dreamers Believers
DVD TRACKLISTING:
01. Spectral Warrior
02. Evil Spell
03. In The Arms Of A Queen
04. Shine In My Galaxy
05. Eternal Winter
06. Cosmovision
07. I Thought I Was A King
08. Honor And Glory
09. Bells From Babylon
10. Lord Of The Sky
11. Dreamers, Believers
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dawn “The Metal Priestess” King and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to do adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities