Obscurity
| Obscurity | |
|---|---|
 Obscurity during a performance in Bornstedt , 2018 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Velbert , Germany |
| Genre (s) | Melodic Death Metal , Black Metal , Death Metal , Viking Metal |
| founding | 1997 |
| Website | www.obscurity-online.de |
| Founding members | |
| Nezrac (until 2008) | |
| Agalaz | |
| Dornaz | |
| Ziu | |
| Arganar (until 2016) | |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Agalaz |
guitar |
Dornaz (until 2003, since 2009) |
guitar |
Askar (since 2018) |
bass |
Ziu |
Drums |
Zorn (since 2018) |
| former members | |
guitar |
Cortez (2003-2018) |
Drums |
Draugr (2016-2018) |
Obscurity is a German Melodic Death Metal / Black Metal band founded in 1997 , with strong Viking Metal influences, from Velbert in the Bergisches Land , North Rhine-Westphalia . Obscurity is one of the early bands in German Death, Black, Viking and Pagan Metal .
history
Obscurity was founded in 1997 by Agalaz , Arganar , Nezrac , Dornaz and Ziu . The five founding members had known each other for a long time and decided to form a band. The name Obscurity was chosen because the musical style could not be clearly assigned to a metal genre even in the early days. Since obscurity means both darkness and obscurity , this synonym describes the musical range.
The trademark of Obscurity is the Bergische lion , the heraldic animal of the counts and later dukes of Berg , who ruled the Bergisches Land in the Middle Ages . This trademark runs like a red thread through the band's history and can be found in almost all publications.
In 1997 and 1999 the demos The Rebirth of the Dark Empire and Christian Decay were released . In 2000 the self-produced debut album Bergisch Land was released . In 2003, the founding member Dornaz left the band for professional reasons. He was then a passive member and stood u. a. at the tenth anniversary with Obscurity on stage. With Cortez an experienced guitarist and long-time friend could be won for the band. For the album Thurisaz Twilight could be won as a distributor.
In 2006 the band signed a distribution / record deal with Massacre Records . In 2007 Obscurity celebrated their tenth anniversary as a band. On April 27, 2007 the album Schlachten & Legenden was released , recorded in the Midas Twins studios by Andy Brings (ex- Sodom ) and Haan Hartmann in Hagen. In the same year the band played at the Kaltenbach Open Air in Austria.
In 2008 singer Nezrac left the band. Guitarist Agalaz became a permanent singer and continued to do the guitar work. In the same year the band signed a distribution / recording contract with Trollzorn Records . In March 2009 the album Várar was released . The musical guests are Arkadius ( Suidakra ) and Manuel Bigus from Path of Golcanda as singers. The band's first music video was released for the track Battle Metal . The band then played at the Blacktroll Festival and the Summer Nights Festival in Austria. Shortly thereafter, Dornaz returned to the band as a guitarist as a full member.
In 2010 the concept album Tenkerra was released , which describes the Celtic - Germanic history of the Bergisches Land in the time of approx. 200 BC. Until the year 800 treated. The album title is a neologism from the Germanic tribe Tenkenerer and the Latin word "terra" for "earth" or "land". The album was recorded in the 4CN studios in Wuppertal. The album was mastered by Jacob Bredahl (formerly Hatesphere ). In 2011 the band played at the Ragnarök Festival as well as on some shows on the Paganfest tour in support of Korpiklaani , Unleashed , Kivimetsän Druidi , Moonsorrow , Varg and Arafel .
On October 19th, 2012, for the 15th anniversary, the sixth, self-titled album was released. Half of the album is based on the four disasters of Ragnarök , the rest of the songs are independent. With Ensam varg there is a tribute to Quorthon of Bathory. Then the band went on a European tour with the bands Helrunar and Kampfar.
In 2014 her seventh work Vintar was released : Again it is a concept album, only the subject of Ragnarök was dealt with. In 2015 the band played again on the Paganfest tour, this time with Wintersun , Turisas , Heidevolk and Frosttide .
In May 2018, the music video produced by Sascha Krüger and the iMOTION Factory for the play Streitmacht Bergisch Land was awarded the Award of Excellence at the Indie Fest in San Diego , California .
At the beginning of June 2018, the band revealed via Facebook that guitarist Cortez wanted to leave the band during the following month for family reasons after 15 years. A successor for the position of guitarist has already been found and will be announced shortly. On July 21st, Cortez played with the band for the last time. Askar was introduced as the new guitarist by the band . On September 5th the band announced the departure of the drummer Draugr for professional reasons. At the same time the position was filled with anger .
style
Texts
Obscurity's texts deal with warlike and combative, Nordic-mythological and purely fictional topics. In the early years, topics that were more typical of Black Metal were added. The exclusively German-language texts of the newer albums from 2006 mainly deal with historical topics, especially motifs from the history and mythology of the Teutons and Vikings . They mostly refer to the history of the Bergisches Land and above all to the time of the Duchy of Berg . These are largely shaped by historical books and films. Another big topic is battles and fights.
The band expressly distances itself from any politically extreme movement in metal and is of the opinion that National Socialism cannot be reconciled with metal in any way. Obscurity vigorously emphasize this attitude in their CD booklets, in interview statements, in announcements during live performances and as a backward message in their song Runen von once from the album Schlachten & Legenden .
music
In the first few years Obscurity mainly played Death / Black Metal with elements from Viking Metal . Early influences were Bathory , Immortal , Iron Maiden , Naglfar and Slayer . For a while the band described their music as "Battle Metal", a term that was largely coined by Bal-Sagoth . While the current direction of music is a mixture of melodic death and black metal, few elements of thrash metal find influence. The music is very fast, hard and mixed with hymn-like melodies. The sometimes very cold and brutal, harmonious sound is deeply rooted in the underground, although it is also very catchy at the same time.
All recordings and layouts of the demos and albums from 1997 to 2008 are exclusively self-financed and self-produced by Obscurity. Even after the band signed with the various record labels, they made sure to keep enough creative control. For some albums, the band was supported by Bony (singer of the band Japanese combat radio plays ), a long-time friend and companion, who was used as a producer or co-producer.
gallery
- Band members at the Dark Troll Festival 2018
Singer Agalaz
Guitarist Dornaz
former guitarist Cortez
Bassist Ziu
former drummer Draugr
Discography
Demos
- 1997: The Rebirth of the Dark Empire (CDR; self-distribution)
- 1999: Christian Decay (CD; self-distribution)
Albums
- 2000: Bergisch Land (CD; Blodmorfogh Productions)
- 2003: Thurisaz (CD; Twilight distribution)
- 2006: Battles & Legends (CD; Massacre Records )
- 2009: Várar (CD; Trollzorn Records )
- 2010: Tenkenerra (CD; Trollzorn Records)
- 2012: Obscurity (CD; Trollzorn Records)
- 2014: Vintar (CD; Trollzorn Records)
- 2017: Armed Force (CD; Trollzorn Records)
Music videos
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Official video clips
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Official lyric videos
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Silent Noise: Exclusive interview with Ziu & Agalz (Obscurity). Metaller.de, accessed on August 20, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d e OBSCURITY :: Metal crazy "Bergische Löwen". Amboss-mag.de, accessed on August 21, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d e Interview with Obscurity. Heavyhardes.de, April 20, 2007, accessed August 20, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Interviews> Obscurity. N-Metal.de, November 29, 2012, accessed on August 21, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d We are obscurity - off to battle !!! (No longer available online.) Official website, archived from the original on March 5, 2016 ; accessed on August 21, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Sarah Fleischer: Pagan Festival 2011 (Oberhausen). The-pit.de, March 20, 2011, accessed on August 21, 2015 .
- ^ André Gabriel: CD review: Obscurity - "Vintar". Metal.de, December 3, 2014, accessed on August 21, 2015 .
- ↑ bands. Official website, accessed August 21, 2015 .
- ^ Website of the Indie Fest ; theindiefest.com, accessed May 14, 2018
- ↑ +++ CORTEZ (guitar) 2003 - 2018 +++ ; facebook.com, June 5, 2018, accessed June 6, 2018
- ↑ ++++ 20 years of the Summernight Festival ++++ ; facebook.com, July 20, 2018, accessed July 23, 2018
- ↑ ++++ line-up change ++++ ; facebook.com, published and accessed September 5, 2018
