ALBUM REVIEW: The Ultimate Grace Of God – Obelyskkh
A lot can change in five years, and for German psychedelic doom and sludge metal sluggers OBELYSKKH, that’s certainly been the case. Since 2018’s The Providence, they’ve slimmed down to a power trio and revisited their punk/noise roots for The Ultimate Grace Of God, which is their fifth studio album in their 15 years as a band.
Aquaveil opens with the creepy mysterious sing-song voice of a little girl before swan diving into a vicious riff that embeds itself in your psyche right from the off. That creepy theme continues throughout with ominous passages of hard wrought doom and tortured vocals driving this cacophonous mass onward. Those punk influences are plain to see already too, playing their brand of doom with a fervour that belies the expected low-and-slow approach, opting instead to go balls to the wall from the word go and seeing what sticks. Think MELVINS on a more epic scale and you’re getting close to the culture clash at play here.
Standing at an intimidating 71 minutes from just seven tracks, The Ultimate Grace Of God is a hefty undertaking. Add to that the sonic chaos that oozes from every passing second, and you may as well carve out an afternoon to just really lose yourself in this. Because this is not an album to just casually dip in and out of; to do so would mean that the effect is lost – after all, you can’t hit pause part way through 14-minute epic Afterlife and expect to come back at your leisure. Every second feels like you’re in the eye of some great storm as it batters you from all angles and blows you into the next ear-splitting phase. Even the peak doom opening of the track blusters and bellows in its atmosphere and lilting minor-key melodies. And once they take the safety off and go hell for leather? Good luck not snapping your neck from the whiplash.
Dog Headed God changes tact once more, this time leaning more into a grungy desert rock aesthetic that wouldn’t go amiss on a QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE record, crossed with a jaunty, bizarro twist a la PRIMUS, all capped off with a sneering IGGY POP-esque vocal performance over gang vocals that drip with malice. Meanwhile, album closer Sat Nam (Vision) is a haunting organ-laden monster with a healthy dose of bass to really swallow you up. With intense atmospherics throughout these final 16 minutes and 48 seconds, it’s another mammoth slab of doomy goodness that surprises and delights in its own horrific, uncomfortable way.
The Ultimate Grace Of God then is a dizzying and discombobulating experience, but OBELYSKKH wouldn’t have it any other way. By infusing their psychedelia with brash punk sensibilities, they’ve created an album that will challenge its listeners and dare them to open their minds to all that is being pumped into their ears. It’s hard to think of another band doing quite what OBELYSKKH does; whether you “get it” or not will really influence how you feel about this album, but for those who dig this toxic melting pot, it really works.
Rating: 8/10
The Ultimate Grace Of God is set for release on January 27th via Exile On Mainstream.
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