After Oblivion – Stamina

My first encounter with Bosnian After Oblivion was their “Vultures” EP (2010). I was a little bit intrigued by it, due the fact not a lot of bands try to play in the vein of later Death. Same goes with their debut full-length “Stamina”. It’s a mix of Death during “The Sound of Perseverance” concerning song structure and vocal wise (a kind of thrashy and slight higher pitched than Chuck Schuldiner vocals). During “Septic Mind” it’s almost like you could use the phrase “Behold…the flesh…and the power it holds” at any moment. There is also a bit of a Pestilence influence on the faster rhythms (like on “Horror Detox” of the “Resurrection Macabre” album) and the underrated French progressive Death Metal band Carcariass. Also the bass sound is quite in the Death (“Human”) and Carcariass (“Sideral Torment”) vein. As you can read, this is quite technical Death Metal Extravaganza! At the end I’m still intrigued by the style of Death Metal played by After Oblivion, but the album doesn’t really stick. The feeling that I rather would like to hear more “Symbolic” than “The Sound of Perseverance” could be one of the reasons why it doesn’t stick. The skills are good enough, I will keep an eye on them. (Ricardo)