OBSIDIAN TIDE - Pillars of Creation

OBSIDIAN TIDE

Album: Pillars of Creation

Genre: Progressive Melodic Death Metal

Release Date: August 29th 2019

Country: Israel

Label: Unsigned

Band Links: WEBSITE / BANDCAMP / INSTAGRAM / TWITTER / FACEBOOK

This review is dedicated to a band, that caused the sub-title of my blog. OBSIDIAN TIDE is a trio from Israel, and their music is best described as progressive melodic death metal. They released their debut album "Pillars of Creation" in 2019, which caught my attention because of the beautiful cover artwork from Dixon Jong (Intuitive Designs). The music turned out to be great as well, so they didn't let me go anymore.

"Pillars of Creation" is a concept album and tells the story of a man searching for enlightenment. On his way, he witnesses riveting stories and learns of horrible truths. Finally, he makes the bold decision to follow his conscience, and his choice changes… everything.

Let’s talk about the music: The vocals are a mix of clean and harsh, which makes the songs very interesting. The instrumental line-up (guitar, drums and bass, all three musicians play on a high technical level) is completed by piano, violin, flute and saxophone, that will appear at some points, performed by several guest musicians.

The album opens with the title track, which is an awesome introduction to what this band has to offer: Beautiful melody lines alternate with a second singer, who delivers the rough parts. Powerful riffs, great solo parts, and some musical surprises invite you to dive deeper into their music. Over the next songs, OBSIDIAN TIDE develop the story with their varied song-writing. “Seven” comes up with a great rhythmic, which gives the song a huge dynamic. The following “King of the Realm” is a slower track, and has a lovely piano interlude in the middle. “Hireath” starts very peaceful, but changes mood and pace several times in a mesmerizing way. “The Harbinger and the Millenial Vengeance" might be my favorite here, as it brings all these elements to the top, closely followed by the epic finale: “Magnanimous”.

To sum it up: “Pillars of Creation” became an amazing musical journey, worth to let it grow over several spins. I like the mix of different vocals, powerful riffs and awesome guitar solos in combination with great rhythmic, the appearance of different instruments makes the album even more interesting. OBSIDIAN TIDE tell their first story in an impressive way, and I'm looking forward to hear more from them, hopefully in the near future. Give them a listen!

Written by Katha