Deep Inside – Oblivea (reviewed by The Night Writer)

If you think that rock music, in all its forms, has said all it has to say, has run its course or is due for a much overdue upgrade, then you are probably missing the point of the genre in the first place. Sure, it may have found its perfect form many years ago. It may use pretty much the same musical building blocks to create its sound. But rock music today is less about doing anything revolutionary but building something new out of the old. And it is about the sound, atmosphere, magic and mystery created by manipulating and re-thinking those cranked-up and weaponised blues progressions.

On their latest single, Deep Inside, Oblivea doesn’t just create something new; they build nothing short of a whole new set of stunning sonic architecture. The slow groove that runs through the song’s heart is seductive, sensual, slinky and satisfying. The Stygian atmospheres conjured here exist at a place where alternative rock comes crashing through into more gothic realms. And the pace and restraint show that this is a band in complete control of the powers that they wield, in full understanding of the idea of less is more.

The song is deep, dark, heavy and intense, and it gets there not by showboating but underplaying. Not through showing off and turning up the volume, which so many lesser rock bands think is the answer, but through slowly adding different tones and texters, sonic layers and musical weight to their evolving rock odyssey.

The result is a song that slowly consumes the listener in claustrophobic intensity, that pulls you in without you realising just how far you have been drawn into its hidden depths, that smothers you with swathes of abrasive guitars, thunderous drums and depth-charge basses without you even realising you are being eaten alive, metaphorically speaking, by the music.

And the best thing about the song is that it does all of that without once breaking a sweat or losing the poise and dark, majestic elegance it exudes from start to finish.

More info at – https://bongoboyrecords.com/oblivea/