Sunday 24 May 2015

OBESE - KALI YUGA (Album Review)

























Album Type: Album
Date Released: June 01st 2015
Label: Argonauta Records

Kali Yuga - Track Listing:

01 - Enion
02 - Rite Of Fire
03 - Kali Yuga
04 - The Bitter Blast
05 - Red As The Sun
06 - Steamroller
07 - Down The Gauntlet
08 - Bow
09 - Begetter Dead Letter

Bio:

OBESE hail from Holland, they are authors of a crunchy, catchy, powerful and above all heavy as hell sound! Bringing the groove back into stoner and feeding your appetite with fat tunes that will leave you hungry for more. The weight and thickness of sound is being explored one track at a time: corpulency never felt that good. The immense riffage in a vast landscape of bulldozing euphony will leave nobody unsatisfied.

Review:

Sometimes a band gets locked into a certain sound or feel for an album. Obese is not this band. This four-piece from The Netherlands has released a heavy sonic maze that weaves and wanders through tones, tempos, and vocals. Trying to guess the feel of the next song is not worth the time. This album, Kali Yuga, has break-apart fuzz for the sludge heads and driving blues riffs for the fans of classic stoner jams.

The first track “Enion” starts with a punch to the chest from what may be the heaviest vocals I have heard from modern heavy bands. Combined with heavy toms and blasts of fuzz from the guitars, you get a feel of what this band is offering up. The riffs that develop at the end of this track show that Obese has some chops and can use them.

Rite Of Fire” throws the first of many change-ups on this album. For fans of more modern stoner vibes, this track has a bit more of a modern feel. The track has a quicker tempo with all the heavy guitar tones you would expect from the opening track. I began to see some a glimpse of influence from some of the classic desert bands (Kyuss, early Fu Manchu). The title track, “Kali Yuga” and “The Bitter Blast” gave proof that the early stoner/desert bands played a part in Obese’s sound. “Red As The Sun” is one of the tracks on this album that stood out. It has all the parts of a song that got me excited to hear new bands. The riff on track opens with is as heavy and fuzzed-out groove as I have heard in a long time. The song transforms with some heavy drums in the middle and comes right back to that sweet riff.

The final tracks on the album, “Steamroller”, “Down The Gauntlet”, and “Bow”, have a heavier and more classic sludge vibe but stills show a bit more of a swampy blues feel with some touches of prog-rock. The final track, “Begetter Dead Letter,” threw the final change-up with a sludge jam that wrapped this album up the way it began by leaving you guessing. The track is unapologetic and dark in its guitar tone and rhythm section with a nod to some Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath.

Kali Yuga showcases Obese’s ability to take multiple influences and use it to create a flowing, calculated record. Some bands tend to try this but usually end up with weaker tracks taking a back seat to the stronger ones. Kali Yuga delivers on each track and still maintains strength in each song’s individualism. I am definitely looking forward to seeing them live and hope they can capture the album’s strength on stage.

Words by Rick Fogarty

Thanks To Barbara at NeeCee Agency and Gero at Argonauta Records for promo. Kali Yuga will be available to buy from June 1st 2015.

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