Obscene Gallery – Dreams of Death
Band: Obscene Gallery
Title: Dreams of Death
Label: independent
Release date: January 30th, 2025
Country: Sweden
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Recording
Dirty and infectious. These two words come to my mind after listening to “Dreams of Death” on repeat several times. This is the debut EP of Obscene Gallery, a quite new Death Metal band but with a totally old-school sound that makes your ears tremble and your soul shrink. An open window to the past, a tribute to the old times… a sound that never gets old.
But of course, I’ll try to dig a bit more in my thoughts about this album…
In case you don’t know this band, Obscene Gallery are:
J. Death – lead and rhythm guitars, bass
Nattblod – vocals
Henrik Axelsson – drums
And Chaq Mol as the guest lead guitar in “Dreaming in Red”, a cover of the namesake song by Dismember.
I’m mesmerized by the amount of riffs (chainsaw style) played in these songs, if you let your brain dive into them it’s not without damage. The combo “infectious Swedish old school riffs” + “pummeling drums” works really well here, when I put the opener track on repeat my brain literally melts… The guitar solos are very well executed; vocals also have a heavy layer of distortion, at times it’s a bit too much for me, but this is a personal appreciation of course. The production isn’t clean at all, you could mistake this album for being released in the 90s.
At times hypnotic, like in “Beneath the Cemetary”, where drums slow down in some parts and guitars build a mesmerizing effect with all those repetitive riffs, while bass resonates in a dark tone. At times crushing one’s skull with no mercy, as in “Draped in Rotten Flesh”, a short and devastating theme, where drums literally tamp you down and vocals are a total distorted rumble. I’m sure that these 5 tracks will impress any Death Metal lover.
To close this debut offering, there’s a cover of the song “Dreaming in Red” by Dismember, where Chaq Mol plays lead guitar and his performance adds an extra sparkle to this EP.
In Nattblod’s words, this band was “formed in Stockholm after finding a Boss HM-2 pedal in an old equipment box together with a need of finding some output of the immense riff library created during the pandemic”. Well… These guys are loyal to the 90s Stockholm Death Metal sound and it’s obvious they worship that era. And the rage and fury that this EP distills will permeate your flesh and run in your bloodstream. 8,5/10 by Sílvia
8,5/10 To Greatness and Glory!
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