Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I - review
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I - review
Tracklist
01. Tapestry Of The Starless Abstract02. Xenoflux
03. Of The Leper Butterflies
04. Forget Not
05. And Plague Flowers The Kaleidoscope
06. As Icicles Fall
07. Of Petrichor Weaves Black Noise
A review by
Milena October 24, 2012
What's the complete picture like? The "visible" part of the package should give you a crude idea. Song names that start with prepositions. Lyrics that breathe romanticism, echoing with despair. Winged creatures and fire. Everything hints at the blues of youth, spilled soul-blood, vibrant sonic colors; everything tells you each song will be like pushing against an invisible wall separating you from what you desire most.
The music is always incredibly busy, with two vocalists (Tim Charles, in charge for slightly nasal and very pleasant cleans is also the band's violinist, which wins him bonus points for musical diversity), a guitarist that fires riff after riff at you (and occasionally engages in tasteful soloing) and a drummer with a penchant for black metal beats. The band's usage of violin is often debated - as far as I'm concerned, it's always more than appropriate. It's out of place enough to be quirky and never jarring, it's important enough to be necessary but not overpowering enough for Ne Obliviscaris to be referred to as "that band with a violin". And besides, how often do you get to hear guitar/violin unison solos?
Throughout the first half of the album, the songs get shorter and more focused until the short break in shape of the acoustic guitar and violin-driven ballad "Forget Not", and the ending three songs essentially repeat the "all guns blazing, all the time"-formula of the first three ones. Progressive music should, among other things, be about going places within an album and a single song. The buss driver of Ne Obliviscaris sometimes takes unnecessary detours and piss breaks that last too long. Sometimes, you can't exactly remember the place you came from and can't tell where you will arrive. But the ride is always scenic as hell. That's quite enough for a debut album, so pick it up!
Rating:
8.5
8.5
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Rating:
8.5 |
Now I for one am one of the newer fans of this unique progressive metal outfit. I was unaware of the Aurora Veil EP that came out in 2007, was already establishing a fan-base, and was building up significant hype for the release of Portal of I five years later. I have never even heard of Ne Obliviscaris, until right before the album was released, with the surrounding hype growing to a fever-pitch. I was finally able to order a copy from the band's label and after a few spins, I must say, I was quite impressed. Read more ›› |
Rating:
9.0
9.0
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Rating:
9.0 |
I was introduced to this band by a friend of mine whose taste in metal was quite similar to mine; he showed me a video of "As Icicles Fall". This took my attention, and I decided to check these guys out; and I was very pleased with what I heard. Read more ›› |
Comments
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"but not overpowering enough for Ne Obliviscaris to be referred to as "that band with a violin". " That's A Forest Of Stars' title instead. It's sad that the best music from my country isn't available in the shops. The lates tIdo or X-factor losers, however... If your more sophisticated/complex than Cold Chisel, and aren't a singer-songwriter (Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, etc.), most of the big music stores don't care. Anyway, a real good album. Forget Me is a great building piece.
---- "I'm here to nunchuck and not wear helmets. And I'm all out of helmets." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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This is one of the best albums iv come across for a long time. I highly recommend any metal fan give it a try. A very classy album
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I still have no words to describe this and I find it difficult to get into, some albums just leave you really stumped. It seems exactly like the kind of thing I would enjoy to the fullest (with the folk/progressive aspects) but.. something just puts me off, I have no idea what it is. Maybe the problem is that it's being too "busy", as you say, for me.
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Great review, I really liked this album a lot. It's definitely showing up in my personal Top 20 list this year. 
---- Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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Good review, but I would've liked to see a rating. Anyway, this album blew me away when I first got to hear it. I put it in the list "My Top 20 Albums Of All Time" a few days ago, though I don't know if it'll stay there for long.
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| Fredd
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Posts: 4603 Written by Uldreth on 24.10.2012 at 23:32 Yeah, that's how I feel about it... it loses focus and I'm not very attentive by nature but I like it a lot.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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"Song names that start with prepositions."  Yeah...Well, Milena, you have made me really curious and excited to hear this! I'm going into the experience aware that it'll be flawed at times but nonetheless beautiful and full of surprises. Just like I like it  Thanks for writing about this one!
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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Yea this album is something special, it´s been running non-stop for 3 days now.
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Excuse me while I wipe the drool away. GOD DAMN this album is stunning!!!! Why do I do this to myself every single year? I read about an album I just know I'll love then take my sweet ass time getting around to listening to it. All this time I could have been worshiping Portal Of I but I waited until last night to finally spin it. Then I listened to nothing else all evening, instead playing this continuously. Captivating.
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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Sixth best metal album of the year for me - but Chiggedy Chuck doesn't get it. I think this album has been criminally overlooked and will truly be an important step in the development of both black metal and progressive metal. Brilliant, brilliant stuff. I talked about the album on this show here but I don't think I raved about it enough. Godless https://soundcloud.com/nocontrolradio/visions-from-the-darkside12-9-12
---- -- Visions From the Darkside The greatest extreme metal talk show of all time. http://soundcloud.com/nocontrolradio www.nocontrolradio.com
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