CHOOCHOO-
SHOESHOOT
Choose Your Own Romance
(Kythibong)

COFFINS
Buried Death
(20 Buck Spin)

ASRA
The Way of All Flesh
(Black Box)

ONE STARVING DAY
Broken Wings Lead Arms to
the Sun
(KNBVI)

OBSKURIA
Discovery of Obskuria
(World in Sound)

KLIMT 1918
Just in Case We'll Never Meet

Again 

(Prophecy)

HEAVY HEAVY 
LOW LOW
Turtle Nipples and the Toxic
Shock 

(Ferret)

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I am pretty fucking puzzled by this record.  On one hand it’s pretty good solid 60’s laden psychedelic hard rock, but on the other it contains certain cover choices that definitely bring the song quality down a couple of notches.  More importantly, in the context of this album, those song choices seem absurd. Or maybe it is that this project, comprised by the Peruvian band La Ira de Dios, German keyboardist Winnie Rimbach-Sator (Karmic Society) and Dragonwyck’s guitarist Tom Brehm, attempts to create a sort of concept album in which they try to fit songs by acts as diverse as Metallica, The Beatles and The Misfits as part of the story.  Whatever it is, Obskuria clearly  attempts to be a pretty ambitious project, (for instance; the lyrics are printed backwards but the booklet is somewhat translucent, so in order to read the lyrics one has to hold the booklet against light.) Too bad that judging by the way in which those covers are played we cannot say the same thing about the music.

Discovery of Obskuria comes to a pretty solid start with the best cover choice they make; “I Am My Own God”, from the debut album of Canada’s Dayglo Abortion, has all the right elements; a somewhat esoteric melody, catchy lyrics and lines sung with hooks galore. In other words, it’s the kind of tune that would have worked as punk, garage rock and even better, as a keyboard heavy psychedelic tune, which is how Obskuria plays it here. Immediately after though this project opts for covering Metallica’s classic “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. The result is nearly disastrous with the worst load going to the vocals which sound lazy and uninspired. Here, the feeling is extinct, the playing is half-assed and the demo like quality of the sound doesn’t help. 

But there is plenty of talent here. It’s just misspent a few times. “I See” is one of those rising bluesy Sunday tunes that provide a good wake and bake morning. A nice touch and a good way to salvage this recording. The Beatles’ “Come Together” is only somewhat recognizable with Starr’s remarkable performance reduced to simpler minded timing. Not nearly as disastrous as the Metallica cover but hardly remarkable. From this point on Obskuria does it right. As far as their original tunes are concerned is super clear they should stick to that. The same goes for their cover of The Misfits’ classic “Die Die My Darling”; the female vocals give it a weaker edge. But “Essence of Its Own” clocks at almost twenty minutes and the title track clocking at almost seventeen minutes seem much shorter because of their effectiveness. When playing their own material Obskuria’s songs breathe space dust in cosmic fashion. It’s nice psychedelic stoner rock, with a spotlight that constantly shifts from the guitar to the keyboard. So much potential, but in so many spots it unfortunately seems so misguided.

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