BLACK COBRA
Feather & Stone
(At a Loss)

GRAVE IN THE SKY
Cutlery Hits China: English
for the Hearing Impaired
(Heart & Crossbone)

GHOSTLIMB
S/T
(Self-Released)

THE PLIGHT
Black Summer
(Visible Noise)

NADJA
Radiance of Shadows
(Alien 8)

OBSTRUKTOR
Dead On Arrival 

(Self-Released)

MARBLEBOG
Forestheart

(Autopsy Kitchen)

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I really do not dig the production on this recording by Spokane, WA technical thrash/death metal quartet Obstruktor. It truly takes away, and not only that, but minimizes the expected effect that some of their brutality must carry.   To start with the negatives; their demo Dead On Arrival features the kind of tepid production values that characterized many of the low to mid- size extreme music death metal recordings from the early 90’s. The trademark sound belonged to a generation and made of people like Tampa’s Morrisound producer Scott Burns nearly household names among the then growing extreme music community, but also left a lot to be desired as it limited the reach of pretty much each band that passed through Tampa. Eventually, those who wanted to survive had to head elsewhere and ended up looking mostly to Europe for a more aggressive and powerful sound that would also better showcase the nuances of their music. After all; if you play it, why not display it? The instrument that is most damaged in Dead On Arrival is by far the drums; which sound tiny, hollow and really, kind of like bongos. They are played with much skill, speed and power by Cameron Olson who has certainly learned a few lessons from people like Morbid Angel’s Pete Sandoval. Needless to say, If I was him, I’d be pissed.

Once you take in all at once though, Obstruktor truly comes alive. Not as stupifyingly technical as the bands from Willowtip’s roster, Obstruktor sound more like a very promising old school throwback technical death thrash metal band. Cynic, Atheist, latter day Death and Pestilence come to mind. Especially because vocalist Wade Hampton has that grandfatherly approach that is wholesome in a Stephen King kind of way. He is a reliable man because besides the comic relief aspect of this type of vocals, Hampton delivers his lines at such rapid fire rate, he commands the songs and pushes faster to an already fast band. On the contrary, Bassist Matt Browning and rhythmic guitarist Rishi Saez both lose on the production side of things too; nowhere is this more evident than during the last seconds of the third cut “Monday’s Genocide” where leadman Abe Kenney solos with much gusto. The other stringers though get relegated to second class status with their instruments drowned by the drums, which are already tiny themselves. That’s Obstruktor at its most skeletical; not the best thing to be hearing. Their technique is there, their songwriting needs to mature and take on a more unique personality and when entering the studio the next time around the band should focus on a more robust sound for each instrument. A recommendation that this efficient band should take into account upon embarking of its next recording. Remember; if you play it, why not display it?

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