What do you get when you create a band with ex-members from Necrophagist and Pestilence? Germany’s brutal tech-death upstarts Obscura, that’s what!

Founded by vocalist/guitarist Steffan Kummerer and drummer Jonas Baumgartl in 2002, Obscura caused quite a stir in the technical/progressive death metal scene with their debut album, 2006’s Retribution. After a major lineup change, with ex-Necrophagist members drummer Hannes Grossmann and guitarist Christian Muenzner and ex-Pestilence fretless bass virtuoso Jeroen Paul Thessiling joining the fold, the band unleashed Cosmogenesis (Relapse Records) earlier this year. Though this band may be relatively new, their sound is planted firmly in the classic styles of Human-era Death and Cynic, while at the same time adding a unique modern tech-death spin on top of it.

The album opens with “The Anticosmic Overload,” which sounds exactly like the name implies. The fretless bass hits you right between the eyes from the get-go (it reminded me a lot like Steve DiGiorgio’s playing in the early Sadus stuff), and that’s just the start of this track’s full-on insanity. In fact, the entire Cosmogenesis album can be summed up by this track’s qualities: uber-technical chops, lightning fast lines and heavy melodies.

Which is not to say that Cosmogenesis doesn’t have some surprises thrown in for good measure. The second track, “Choir of Spirits,” really knocked me off guard with its Paul Masvidal–style android vocals. I’m not going to lie: I literally laughed out loud when I first heard them…and not in a bad way either! I have so much respect for bands that pay tribute to the masters. Once I got past my initial surprise, I began to listen more closely and realized just how perfectly these guys were executing their ideas. It’s amazing how relevant this mix of old-school and modern tech-death sounds in Obscura’s capable hands.

My only complaint with Cosmogenesis is that I felt it could have used even more variety. Granted, technical death metal is an extremely hard genre in which to create a diverse batch of songs while still maintaining that core brutal sound. But, with that said, the songs on this album might blend into each other, but they do so in a totally stand-out fashion…if that makes any sense.

What’s scarier is that these guys are still young and have plenty of time to perfect their already amazing craft. If you’re into bands like Death, Pestilence, Sadus, Cynic and Necrophagist check these guys out. In an oversaturated genre filled with pretentious breakdowns, sweeps, hairstyles, blast beats and ree-ree’s, I think it’s about time true tech-death has returned. Thank god for bands like Obscura. —Henry Yuan