Review Summary: All aboard the cheese train!
There has always been something about the over-the-top nature of certain metal bands that has drawn me in over the years. Bands like Cradle and Dimmu of course, but there’s also bands like Xanthochroid, Ne Obliviscaris and Carach Angren that have blown me away with their bombastic synths and cheesy storylines. Tomarum is a progressive/tech death/symphonic black metal band from Atlanta and they’re here to stake their claim in the cheese fest.
Beyond Obsidian Euphoria is the band’s second album and it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The first half of the album really shines through. The first 3 tracks here really showcase a lot of brilliance in how to make over-the-top, bombastic metal. The riffs soar over the keys in an almost neoclassical way with melody and technicality being at an all time high. These tracks build an atmosphere of triumph as the tech death riffage blends masterfully with the majestic synth work. It’s almost as if they took the cheesiness of Ne Obliviscaris and married it to the dark, black metal(ish) murk of Opeth’s early albums.
Where these guys run into problems is in the back half of the album. Simply put, some of these tracks just meander WAY too long. Silver, Ashen Tears and The Pursuit of Light are prime examples, with the latter reaching almost 15 minutes. Tomarum played around way too much with worthless, spaced out atmospherics to take up time when in reality they could’ve easily cut 5 minutes (or more) off of each track. Instead of being around 45 minutes,
Beyond Obsidian Euphoria goes well past the hour long mark and I can’t help but think that hurts the overall quality of the album.
There are definitely moments of magic here. A lot of the riffs hit extremely hard and the synth work is to be commended 90% of the time. If they would’ve trimmed some of the fat, this would be an easy 4. These kinds of bands tend to do a little too much a lot of the time and Tomarum did that here. But that’s not to say that there aren’t moments of pure ass kicking metal here as well. If these guys can hone in on their formula a bit more, a masterpiece could be in their future.
