My personal favourite from Formulas.... Absolute savagery.

My fave from Chaosphere. It hints enough to the preceding album, whilst getting groovier.

An epic monster of sludgy doom.

The highlight of the album for mine.

Mine too.

Yeah, that and the opening track, which just hits you like a tonne of bricks. I remember hearing that opening riff the first time and I was in.

I was totally out on first listen to be honest. I hated "Obscura" for quite a while actually & it was a huge disappointment for someone that was previously a huge fan of Gorguts. I really struggled with the production, vocals, dissonance, etc. I probably gave it three listens at the time of release & then another couple a year or so later before it finally opened up. I remember it took me listening to it when I was really tired & not concentrating overly hard on the details & then all of a sudden I could make sense of the chaos. Now I find it to be an ambitious, intriguing & thoroughly compelling experience although it's still unlikely to make any of my top ten lists.

I got to Obscura late despite already being a fan from The Erosion of Sanity (which, to be honest, is probably still my fave Gorguts record), mainly because it was so damn hard to come by a physical copy (this was the time of dial up internet too, and prior to any convenient sites for listening). It wasn’t on Roadrunner either, was it? That probably contributed somewhat to it scarceness.

By the time I got around to it, I was already getting familiar with Converge, Dillinger, Botch, etc., so the dissonance and general chaotic nature of it wasn’t too off putting for me. I’m not 100% sure what it’s reputation was when it was released (I imagine jarring for you’re average DM listener, maybe less so for those familiar with The Erosion of Sanity), but it was starting to get kudos on a wider scale, so I was very happy when I found a second hand copy of it.

I was a huge fan of "The Erosion Of Sanity" so "Obscura" just sounded like such a huge disappointment in comparison. I think I just needed some time to accept that they'd tried something altogether new & different & that I needed to treat this record like a different band entirely. The production definitely makes it hard to identify particular tracks during your first few listens & I think I got a bit lost in the murkiness of it all. Once those twisted melodic ideas started to poke their heads out though I found that I saw the album in a completely different light.

My biggest criticism would be the runtime. 60 minutes at that intensity is just too... INTENSE!!! (Granted, I feel this way about most extreme metal - have we not learnt from Reign In Blood? Keep it at least 45 and under).

I’m always a sucker for a groovy 6/8 song.

Tracks of the day: