There is, in the music of Ne Obliviscaris, something of an impossible wager. How to wed the violence of extreme metal and the grace of a classical violin without falling into kitsch or mere display? The Australian sextet, one of the most ambitious of its generation, has been meeting that challenge for fifteen years. After a long absence and much-discussed internal troubles, EXUL marks its return — and the critics (an 86 average across eight reviews) greet it with admiring relief.
What makes the band singular is that permanent dialogue between two voices: Xenoyr’s guttural growl and the clean singing of Tim Charles, the latter also a violinist. From this duality is born a music in constant tension, where beauty never quite softens the fury, where the fury never tramples the beauty. The press hails writing of rare richness, made of long progressive stretches that take their time to unfold.
EXUL is not an easy record: it demands attention, availability. But it rewards the patient listener with peaks of emotion few bands of the genre can reach. This is extreme metal aspiring to symphonic form, and often attaining it.
Verdict: 8.5. A return worthy of the expectations, carried by an identity no one has managed to copy. Ne Obliviscaris remains without equal.
