''A Valediction'' is the sixth studio album by the German
technical death metal
Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting.
Techni ...
band
Obscura. It was released by the music label
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...
on 19 November 2021.
Background
The album was written and recorded separately by the band members during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The recordings were then sent to
Studio Fredman in
Gothenburg, Sweden. The vocals and acoustic guitar parts were recorded there and the final album was mixed and mastered by
Fredrik Nordström.
Music videos were released for the tracks "Solaris", "A Valediction", "Devoured Usurper", "When Stars Collide", "The Neuromancer" and "Heritage".
Reception
Kevin Stewart-Panko of ''Metal Injection'' wrote "As far as technical death metal goes, A Valediction will receive deserved glowing praise from fans and heaps of critical brown nosing from those in the know."
Sean Mclennan of ''New Noise'' stated the album "contains a collection of the band's most vibrant and emotive material heard on record."
Track listing
Personnel
Obscura
*
Steffen Kummerer – guitar, vocals
*
Christian Münzner
Christian Münzner (born 21 August 1981) is a German guitarist who plays for the bands Obscura and Alkaloid. He is also known for playing for the technical death metal band Necrophagist from 2002 until 2006, appearing on their 2004 release ''Epi ...
– guitar
*
Jeroen Paul Thesseling
Jeroen Paul Thesseling (born 13 April 1971) is a Dutch fretless bass player, most famous for his work in the German progressive death metal band Obscura and the Dutch progressive death metal band Pestilence.
Biography
;Early life
Jeroen started ...
– bass
* David Diepold – drums
Additional personnel
*
Fredrik Nordström – producer, mixing, mastering
* Mathias Garmusch, Robert Kukla, Yuma van Eekelen – additional engineering
*
Björn Strid – vocals
* Eliran Kantor – artwork
* Vincent Grundke – photography
Charts
References
{{Obscura
2021 albums
Nuclear Blast albums
Obscura (band) albums