From Minnesota comes Obsolete, a technical death thrash project of Lucas Scott (Sunless, Ex-Australis) and Patrick Ruhland (Ex Australis, Grand Demise of Civilization, Ambassador Gun). Opening with “Still” Scott and Ruhland paint a unique atmosphere with the combination of frenzied riffs reminiscent to Anata or Psycroptic.  The material is quite tight and punchy, and I rather like that it is not a complete blast beat fest or at least not on this track.

“The Atrophy of the Will” reminds me a bit of older death mixed with earlier influences mentioned.  Scott also handles the vocalist with are pretty like his vocals in Sunless.   This track has a great middle section that has an old school Kreator vibe before going into dueling guitar solos. “The Slough” opens with a gorgeous harmony section and for the most part is one of the most melodic songs on the album.  Most of the songs are around three to four minutes for the most part other than the last track.

These guys do an excellent job of creating their own atmosphere which is a refreshing and unique take on this subgenre.Tracks like “Old Horizon” remind me a bit of Cynic or Atheist. Ruhland’s drum work is outstanding through out and in my opinion shines on this tune.  The harmony sections also have a bit of a Voivod feel to them.   Neat mix.  “Silent Freeway” opens with a fantastic groove section before going into the verse.  The overall mix of the album feels like this could have been released between 1991 and 1993.  This is not a bad thing at all. “The Fog” is one of my favorite tracks on the album as the build between opening riff and where the song goes is a bit of a roller coaster that goes through a series of awesome runs and into some thrashier groove elements.

“Callousness of the Soul” opens with frantic arpeggio runs into a bit of blasting! There is an outer space sense of melody that Obsolete has that reminds me a bit of bands like Oxiplegatz and Crystal Age. The closing track “Intercostal” reminds me a bit of Individual Thought Patterns in terms of note selection and then goes into a gorgeous solo section which would make Andy Larocque blush.  Given the work of these guys other projects there is no surprise here with the musicianship and songwriting.  This is an excellent debut, and I am excited to see where these guys go in the future.  Recommended.

[Visit the band's website]

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