OBAKE

Obake is essentially a meeting of musical minds, that therefore draws entirely from the previous experiences of each separate member, these diverse influences are absorbed into and in fact create Obake as a new and extremely powerful musical force; the result is the self titled album to be released by Rare Noise Records in late September – Obake; the name refers to a class of Yokai, Japanese mythical creatures which in strict translation means “shape shifter” but often is used to mean either “ghost” or “ghost of a deceased human”

Opening track ‘Human Genome Project’ instantly sets the tone; it’s dark, very dark – this is like being pummelled, the bass which plumbs deep ravines is initially to the fore, but gives way to a semi spoken guttural vocal – the pace is slow, we are well into the genres of both doom and drone metal here, however the treated multi layered guitar elevates the track to a living breathing entity; no let up with ‘Dog Star Entity’ though the perfect production allows elements of both ambient electronica, and noise to seep through.

Obake have created a sound that positively clings to you, you feel yourself being enveloped by wave upon wave of yet more darkness, then just when it gets too much the noise gives way to reveal a semi blues undercurrent that reaffirms you are listening to rock ‘n’ roll – albeit very twisted rock ‘n’ roll.

There are lighter moments, the instrumental ‘Letters To Ghosts’ is almost ethereal in its composition, but its just there to lull you for when ‘Ponerology’ opens with its visceral guitar this is the sound a film director would use to accompany a scene of disembowelment, the backing vocals coming across like choir of satanic priests.

‘The Omega Point’ with its taut math-rock beats is perhaps Obake’s most accessible track, from within its darkness moments of beauty break through providing the listener with relief from the suffocation – that’s not a criticism; Obake have fused together very diverse genres of music, the result being an album that encaptures the sounds of extreme moments – birth, death, pain, elation – this is a sound of a beast experiencing these powerful feelings; a beast being dragged against its will from the depths of the abyss.

Obake have produced an album that resonates, a truly captivating and at times unsettling listen that if you permit you will lose yourself within; in simple terms it’s a doom metal album, but this is so much more ambitious and even experimental which is down to the abilities of the musicians involved – if you have ever listened to Earth, Sunn O))), Popul Vuh or Coil then Obake are worthy of your attention… Just don’t go on your own…

Phil Newall (courtesy of the Louder Than War website)

While it’s always good if a band have a genuinely funny, thought provoking or simply intriguing name, nothing beats the kind of nomenclature that captures the sonic essence of the band in a word or two. An obake is a type of Japanese (or Hawaiian Japanese) ghost or poltergeist whose unique characteristic is that they change shape depending on the taks they face. Confusingly these ghosts are not strictly seen as being dead. They are created by violent death or suicide – a fate considered so horrible that it stops the recently deceased person from passing on to the other side. Instead they become a half alive shape shifting animal.

Obake the group are not Japanese – they are Italian/Hungarian. Their name is purely a guide to their musical modus operandi. They play what can (very loosely) be called avant metal but glide through genres with ease – sometimes almost imperceptibly. They do this not merely to show that they can but instead to provoke strong emotional responses. Eraldo Bernocchi, the sound engineer and owner of Rare Noise records provides guitars, which range from full on doom and black metal assault to barely existent whispers and tendrils of ambient feedback. Massimo Pupillo, the bassist from blistering jazz metal trio, Zu carves out chunks of space in the mix with his fat low end. Vocalist and keyboard player Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari twists his vocal cords into baroque shapes in order to find affecting shifts in gear, from necrotic deathly growls to a sinister croon to multi-tracked Ligeti (dis)harmony to full operatic tenor. The only member not from Italy is Hungarian drummer Balazs Pandi who is probably the most well known outside of his native country having worked with Venetian Snares, Zu, Merzbow, Wormskull and the Killimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble. Here his job is not so much anchoring the foot of the tornado as whipping it up into even faster and more erratic patterns.

On tracks such as Human Genome Project and Destruction Of The Tower, they lay down bowel prolapsing, standard doom progressions that bolstered sublimely with sepulchral electronics and deep dub echoes. Elsewhere on Endocrinal Pineal Gland, things are stripped back to a gentle 21st Century reboot for Brian Eno’s Discrete Music and Popol Vuh’s Aguirre – Wrath Of God soundtrack. ‘Grandmother Spider’ sees the gothic post punk of late Joy Division/early New Order and trilogy playing The Cure but enlivened with complex jazz drumming. Obake will stand up to repeated listens as its exerts shifts in style in texture. Some of these movements are tectonic and earth shaking and some do not even register on the most sensitive of Richter Scale measuring devices. Yet more proof, if it were still needed, that heavy metal continues to throw up a sizeable chunk of the most forward looking music being released at the present moment.

Luke Turner (courtesy of the The Quietus website)

The word Obake; according to the press packings refers to a class of Yokai, Japanese preternatural creatures, and whose strict translation is “a thing that changes” or “Shapeshifter” but is also loosely taken to mean “ghost” or “ghost of a deceased human being”. It is also the name of the band formed by Zu bass-player Massimo Pupillo, experimental guitarist and producer Eraldo Bernocchi, opera, experimental singer Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari and Hungarian drummer Balazs Pandi. Musically Obake win me over from the very first fuzzed up, drawn out overdriven note which oozes out of my stereo speakers, instantly reminiscent of the sludgey guitar sound of Goatsnake and Sunn 0))) but with layers of cascading and bubbling synth sounds and a diverse vocal delivery that would make even Mike Patton proud. Obake is an extremely dark sounding band and their self-titled record harks back to St. Vitus style blues grooves but with an almost math-rock sensibilitie. On paper all the different elements of Obake’s make up could spell musical disaster in reality however it actually ties together really nicely and even better for me as a listener not only offers something down right heavy and suitably doom laden but has successfully interwoven the faltering genre with new and interesting sonic components… put in the most basic terms:- on one hand it’s reassuringly familiar on the other refreshingly different. A captivating record that impresses from start to finish.

Martijn (courtesy of the Mass Movement Magazine website)