(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the 2012 debut of a band from Bosnia and Herzegovina named After Oblivion.)

You know what’s overrated in metal?  Diversity.  Sometimes you just need a straight IV of PCP jolted into your neck to send you into a convulsive fit of headbanging fury.  What does this review have to do with diversity?, I know you are asking.

Well, After Oblivion’s debut Stamina is aptly named.  It’s a torrent of fierce technical thrash metal reminiscent of legends such as Coroner or Anacrusis with some nice scathing Schuldiner-worship vocals to taste.  Every song is in the same key, uses the same scales on the guitar front, and I think all are even at the same fucking tempo BUT I GIVE NO FUCKS.  This is a balls-to-the-wall assault of technical melodic riffage with paint-stripping screeches.  I’m reviewing this album late in the year, very late (oh wait! it’s the new year!), as it came out back in October, but I just wanted to get in a quick word about these guys.

The opener “Deliverance” will pretty much tell you everything you need to know about this band.  This is a precision strike so deadly and refined you’ll feel like you’re in the heyday of technical thrash and death metal in the 80’s.  This effect is especially helped by the album’s production, which is crisp, clean, yet still has an old school punch and ghetto quality to it.  I especially love the drum tone. Continue reading »