Obitus – Slaves of the Vast Machine (Review)

Obitus are a Swedish black metal band and this is their second album.

Playing harsh black metal, Slaves of the Vast Machine consists of one long 45 minute track.

The band’s music is made up of progressive, dissonant and post-black metal, resulting in music that’s chaotic, relentless and brimming with icy hatred. This is the sound of Slaves of the Vast Machine.

There’s an apocalyptic intensity to this, one that would be hard to sustain for a song as long as this one if it wasn’t for the fact that Obitus twist, bend and warp this intensity as they proceed to tear through the playing time. With the ability to be brutal or atmospheric, depending on what the section of the song calls for, Obitus are always, dark, always nasty, and always unforgiving. This is the sound of Slaves of the Vast Machine.

Run-of-the-mill black metal fans are likely to be intimidated by this. This is not music that should be approached with a care-free attitude; this is music to approach with caution, to be wary of. This is the sound of Slaves of the Vast Machine.

The band paint pictures of dystopian futures and urban nightmares, where dreams are shattered, humanity lies wasted and there’s no hope except for the expectation of more suffering and hardship. This is the sound of Slaves of the Vast Machine.

Bleak, blackened melodies infect the release like streaks of sustained pain that are ravaging some once-virile lifeform. Draining and siphoning off its energy, the resultant husk is malignant with blackened growths and pain-filled memories of what life used to be like. This is the sound of Slaves of the Vast Machine.

Obitus are powered by hatred and fuelled by the broken lives of those around them. This is the sound of Slaves of the Vast Machine.

This is the sound of Slaves of the Vast Machine; it isn’t pleasant by any means, but it does make for some very good black metal.