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Display of military might - 87%

ShadowSouled, January 25th, 2008

Before you start listening to this, forget Belphegor. Forget modern Behemoth. Forget Uncreation's Dawn. Forget any such blackened death metal acts. In fact, forget anything you've ever known about this genre, excluding such bands as Revenge or Arkhon Infaustus, of course. Why? Because (as much as I may enjoy Belphegor) this Edmonton band is far more skilled and interesting than anything that a band like Behemoth have and will ever put out.

This is Axis of Advance's (AoA) third full-length to date, contains eight tracks and clocks in at thirty-seven minutes. This Canadian band could be classified under the almost non-existent war metal genre, which is essentially brutal black metal with death metal overtones and lyrics dealing with, of course, war. Every track in Obey is fast-paced and completely relentless. The song structure is very complex; it's becomes immediately clear that the band members know exactly what they're doing. The riffs are very reminiscent of what can be found in releases of bands such as Revenge or Conqueror, only with more variation than the other two bands have demonstrated; Occasionally, Wor breaks out into a solo, which is as tasteful as it is unexpected (most of the time). J.Read's drumming needs no introduction; the man is an extremely competent drummer, and can switch from a gravity blast into something completely different within the blink of an eye. The vocals are mostly low or mid pitched; dual vocal work is prevalent within the whole album, which adds to the overall atmosphere of command that the music evokes.

This whole album, from guitars to drumming to vocals to lyrics, is very militaristic in nature; this, of course, means that Axis of Advance have succeeded in putting out a successful war metal album. If you are a fan of such bands as Arkhon Infaustus or Revenge, this album is a definite must for you. Standout tracks include God-Eye Command and Of One To Conflict It.