Ne Obliviscaris - Exul (2023)

It has been a while since we heard from Australia’s Ne Obliviscaris and their highly polished and expertly crafted Progressive Extreme Metal. Luckily, 2023 marks the return of the band with a crushing full-length release titled “Exul”. Featuring six tracks and nearly one hour of high-octane and brilliantly crafted music, this release sets a whole new standard for a band with extremely high quality releases. If you like outfits like Persefone, Ihsahn, Be'lakor, Cynic, and older Opeth, you will love this release.

The album kicks off with the brilliant “Equus”, a masterful piece filled with crafty drumming, an insane bass guitar line, all alongside dramatic violin arrangements and punishing vocals. For 12 minutes, the opener lays down the foundation of highly polished aggression mixed in with lush instrumentation and a very dark and somber mood. Now that the band is warmed up, they rip through the two part “Misericorde” masterpiece, with the first piece, “As the Flesh Falls”, nicely creating a playful Obscura-esque foundation of guitar wizardry and dramatic clean vocals. The second part, “Anatomy of Quiescence”, is even more dramatic with even more lush and jazzy violin arrangements thrown into the mix.

Holding nothing back, “Suspyre”, changes the pace for a bit with a doomier and more melancholic approach. Clean vocals are deployed to greatly enhance the experience as growls and tempo changes create a quintessential, highly proggy aural experience, nicely flanked by jazzy and slower tempos. Continuing the magical journey and delivering some crafty guitar leads, “Graal”, nicely keeps the very interesting and complex atmosphere going while unleashing waves of over-the-top musicianship alongside melody.

Closing the album with an eerie piece, this release is one hell of a magical journey that we can’t wait to start all over again. We have listened to this release non-stop since it came out and we are yet to have a full spin without discovering something new. Ne Obliviscaris is definitely a high-caliber band showcasing amazing musicianship alongside relentless heaviness, creating a truly unique and immersive experience. We can’t recommend this release enough, particularly since the band will be touring North America later this year, so we will all be in for a killer show.

Label: Season of Mist

Release: March 24th, 2023

Genre: Extreme Progressive Metal

Country: Australia