The debut full-length from Brazil’s dark hardcore punk outfit Obsoletion is inspired by the famous words by George Orwell, “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face, forever,” setting the tone and atmosphere across this ten-track offering.
Obsoletion – Obsoletion (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
Release Date: 11 October 2024
Words: Jools Green
Sound-wise, they deliver a crossover meld of blackened hardcore punk and primordial Heavy Metal, taking their inspiration from the likes of the New York hardcore outfit Sheer Terror, whose track Obsoletion from their ’85 demo they named themselves after. Cro-Mags, Integrity, Mayhem, Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, G.I.S.M. Carnivore and Possessed are also inspirations.
As a result, there is also a Poison Idea element in there too overall strongly echoing and celebrating US ’80s and early ’90s style hardcore punk, Thrash, Death, Black and Heavy Metal. The result is an intriguing and hugely engaging, bleak and dismal offering with a dystopian futuristic feel. So, an absolute winner for me.
Also impressive is the depth of thought behind this release, lyrically reflecting “a stark future dystopia and of sinister visions of fear, alienation and paranoia coming from within oppressive militarist technocracies and corrupt surveillance-states aiming for total social enslavement, while the natural world and man’s last shreds of sanity revel and toil in a final battle for retribution and survival.”
Obsoletion also explore concepts of magic and occultism from the 19th and 20th centuries, transfigured into present and future unrest, making themes such as cyborgism, post-humanism, and surveillance capitalism extremely relevant and ominous. So, it is a deep offering indeed.
Opening with SSA, this begins with a soundbite of a whirring recording device delivering a spoken message. There are several of these across the album for me, adding to the atmosphere and mental imagery created by the music, so it is an element that I like. SSA is a dense, raw piece with soaring leadwork dropping back to a punchier delivery and superbly distorted vocals both here and across the whole album. A track that switches direction regularly and abruptly but without disrupting the momentum.
The second track, Interdimensional Chaos, brings into focus the album’s dystopian vision. “This is the song that best represents the imaginary/visual setting of the album,” the band explain. “It is a blend of a cyberpunk, almost retro-futuristic scenario, where the combination of magickal practices with high-tech devices (something between chaos magic and the concept of hyperstition) represents the only viable path for survival.”
It delivers a superb, hypnotic, raw, repeating riff to open, the pace ebbing and building, twisting and turning with an excellent blast of filthy hardcore leadwork towards the close.
Dead Posture opens on those previously mentioned George Orwell words encapsulated within that whirring mechanical sound. Building gradually, first drums, then bass lines, I love how the pace and intensity builds menacingly across this piece, developing into a steady driver.
Also opening on drum work, Abominable New World is another filthy, chugging builder with a very ominous undertone, engaging ebb and build and slick direction changing.
Slow and eerie to open and integrating a spoken female soundbite, The Shadow Over is a sinister builder. The rising and falling riffs and eerie lead bursts maintain that mood across the track.
2002 has a driving start, dropping to a punchy plod and keeping the direction and pace changes slick. This is followed by something a little different from the rest of the album. Ruin’s Lament is a brief, reflective, clean guitar instrumental interlude, opening out into Beyond The Ruins with its haunting guitar repeat and bass build, which develops into an engagingly punchy up-tempo number.
The penultimate offering, The 8th Sermon, is predominantly a chugger, enhanced by a couple of impactful bursts of haunting leadwork and an extra vocal layer. On the final piece, Inorganic Egregore, dark bass lines are superseded by a rapid, repeating, driving build and dramatic pace and direction changes.
Overall, Obsoletion is a great album and one of the best hardcore offerings I have heard in a while.
Obsoletion’s artwork was crafted by Fernando Giotefeli, Jordy Kuster, and José Vinícius and builds on the dismal picture created by the music with the retro-futurist design.
Obsoletion will be available as a very limited die-hard test pressing package, two of only seven made, which comes in a custom-made black fold-over cover silkscreened with metallic gold ink. Hand-numbered and with all release info hand-written with metallic gold felt-tip pen, it is signed and stamped with the SR sigil in gold ink. It also includes a secret mystery silkscreened graphic inside.
It is also available as a limited edition fluorescent green/yellow vinyl (100 units worldwide – direct label retail item not wholesaled or distributed) or standard black vinyl inside a matte laminated sleeve with black flood inside the pocket, heavy matte cardstock insert, black poly-lined inner bag and download card. Also available as a limited edition cassette tape with full colour j-card and download card. A digital download is included with the purchase of analogue physical copies.
For more details, visit Bandcamp.
