Obscura - New album updates
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Cathedral Spires
Member
Personally Akroasis is my favorite at the moment. The Monist was the first track I heard from the record, and I was severely disappointed. I'm glad the rest of the songs don't sound like that one. I feel like as a song in general, it wasn't necessarily bad, but as an Obscura sound specifically, I expect more. This is one reason I really like Akroasis, if not for being shreddy and technically and downright beautiful, then just for truly grasping that Obscura sound.
Hey Thoerges!
I just read the interview again and parts of it have been edited out since it´s been published. Thankfully I have a transcript of it
I have an audio interview with him going up on Monday, fully unedited, where he gives you credit for all songs and says almost all your leads are on the album.
Fountainhead
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the heads-up NaYoN - I hope that means he´ll fnally stop this bull.... and we can all move on to actual music again
Thanks for the heads-up NaYoN - I hope that means he´ll fnally stop this bull.... and we can all move on to actual music again
Here you go: Heavy Pod Is Heavy Cast – Episode 15: A Chat With Obscura’s Steffen Kummerer – Heavy Blog Is Heavy
The part where we talk about you starts at 19:50, he says he kept the leads at 21:39, he says you're on the album and you're "mentioned everywhere" and that the album was arranged by the whole band at that time with you, him, Sebastian and Linus at 22:25
takotakumi
Well-Known Member
Just finished listening to this...
Great interview!Very Interesting
Now I have to read your omnivium analisis
Rosal76
Well-Known Member
Awesome interview, Nayon. 
In the interview, Steffen Kummerer says at 21:10 - 21:19, "And this is part of the problematic point of the fretless guitars. For the rhythm guitars, it did not work".
Did Steffen not already know that fretless guitars are instruments Tom Fountainhead uses a lot and therefore, know how a fretless guitar would sound???
In the interview, Steffen Kummerer says at 21:10 - 21:19, "And this is part of the problematic point of the fretless guitars. For the rhythm guitars, it did not work".
Did Steffen not already know that fretless guitars are instruments Tom Fountainhead uses a lot and therefore, know how a fretless guitar would sound???
Double A
Subhuman
That was a very cool interview, way more in depth about everything than you usually see from interviews.
I will refrain from posting my thoughts on Akroasis... Right now I am listening to Cosmogenesis and Omnivium over and over again until I get a proper listen in the mail.
I will refrain from posting my thoughts on Akroasis... Right now I am listening to Cosmogenesis and Omnivium over and over again until I get a proper listen in the mail.
Awesome interview, Nayon.
In the interview, Steffen Kummerer says at 21:10 - 21:19, "And this is part of the problematic point of the fretless guitars. For the rhythm guitars, it did not work".
Did Steffen not already know that fretless guitars are instruments Tom Fountainhead uses a lot and therefore, know how a fretless guitar would sound???
I think he thought it would be fine but after recording realized that it doesn't work as well as he thought it would. That's the impression I got from our conversation and reading other interviews.
Having worked with fretless guitars and weird instrumentation in general myself, what sounds good on paper doesn't always sound good in practice.
Fountainhead
Well-Known Member
I think the more important question should be: "if fretless guitars didn't work, why are they all over the new album?"
Fretless rhythm guitars are all over "sermon" (hell, even the acoustic guitars are fretless here), "the monist", "fractal dimension" and "Weltseele".
Fretless rhythm guitars are all over "sermon" (hell, even the acoustic guitars are fretless here), "the monist", "fractal dimension" and "Weltseele".
I think the more important question should be: "if fretless guitars didn't work, why are they all over the new album?"
Fretless rhythm guitars are all over "sermon" (hell, even the acoustic guitars are fretless here), "the monist", "fractal dimension" and "Weltseele".
Well, another interview said that he didn't rerecord weltseele, and in fact in this interview he says he rerecorded 7 songs, which presumably excludes weltseele. As for the rest, there are some sections I can hear but not in the rhythm guitars for the most part. He does say that for certain parts he kept the slide sounds from the fretless. We don't really know how the rerecording process exactly worked so I think there's little point in speculating.
In the end, he gives you credit in the writing of all the songs, and many guitar parts over the album. The timbre of fretless guitars is definitely different, so maybe that sound wasn't desirable for some heavier/more riffy parts? Where you can clearly hear the fretless it's not really playing along with the rhythms but doing its own thing like a lead. I'm not the man, I don't know. Seems like credit was the primary issue being discussed here so I asked him about it and he credited Tom without any further prodding. I can't say anything about the rest. But this seems resolved at least?
Double A
Subhuman
Guess what I just got in the mail...
This album is my favorite out of all three. It is honestly fantastic start to finish.
The fractal Dimension T shirt with it is really nice.
The band is listed as follows: Steffen Kummerer - Vocals-Guitars, Tom Geldschlager - Guitars, Linus Klausenitzer - Bass, Sabastian Lanser - Drums
Arrangement of the entire thing is credited to Obscura. No mention of Trujillo.
I have to say Tom, I know .... went down and things didn't turn out the way everyone wanted but... my friend, you should be incredibly proud of this album and the work you put into it. It is by far my favorite Obscura album. And I think it is probably the most coherent release by Obscura to date and your playing, because it is indeed really evident all over the album, is ....ing fantastic.
This album is my favorite out of all three. It is honestly fantastic start to finish.
The fractal Dimension T shirt with it is really nice.
The band is listed as follows: Steffen Kummerer - Vocals-Guitars, Tom Geldschlager - Guitars, Linus Klausenitzer - Bass, Sabastian Lanser - Drums
Arrangement of the entire thing is credited to Obscura. No mention of Trujillo.
I have to say Tom, I know .... went down and things didn't turn out the way everyone wanted but... my friend, you should be incredibly proud of this album and the work you put into it. It is by far my favorite Obscura album. And I think it is probably the most coherent release by Obscura to date and your playing, because it is indeed really evident all over the album, is ....ing fantastic.
Double A
Subhuman
Well, Retribution is an album. Haha.
Fountainhead
Well-Known Member
I´m glad the writing-issue seems resolved at least and I´m REALLY glad about the positive feedback the album is getting, despite the controversy.
I´d love to let the other issues rest as well, but I can´t if he continues to lie in public. Allow me one last rant.
Steffen seems to think because he prevented me from posting playthrough videos by having the label block all my past Obscura videos due to "copyright infringement" (meaning that if I post any more videos by the same "rights-owner" (which is relapse) my youtube channel will be closed) he can just go out and twist things his way just because he WANTS to be the one who recorded all those parts.
I´d have loved to be the one who wrote and recorded "a transcendental serenade" (which is a ....ing ACE song IMO), but guess what- I´m not. You know what I mean? I also did NOTHING on "Ode to the sun" but do you see me taking credit for that? I mean, the whole thing is just absurd - they could´ve just credited me, make a decent post about my departure, put our faces in the ....ing booklet like any other band would do even if they got a new guitar player in the meantime - I mean, who the .... cares? Bands change members - big ....ing deal.
But no, he choose to do the opposite of all that. First he claimed I didn´t write anything, now I´m fully credited. Then he claimed he rerecorded most of my parts, now he doesn´t ("Weltseele" is 15 minutes long, if you claim you played 80 percent of the album, that either includes this one or you suck at math - but now it´s suddenly 7 songs, including one I was never supposed to play on anyway). How the hell did he manage to rerecord all those songs when the latest mixes of the album that I got from Victor were done roughly 30 hours before he delivered the final master and those had none of the rerecorded parts he speaks off? He claimed he spent 2 additional weeks in the studio - when exactly would that have been when I got fired on the last day of mixing the album? He claimed Christian Muenzner apologized for having recommended me and asked to be back in the band, now he´s silent about it and those parts have been taken out of interviews. Why are there even different versions of the album credits and bio floating around, being sent to different magazines and blogs? Why does one of my guitar students get 1500+word "hatemail" by him, containing all of the above? Why does the drummer of his other band troll me on facebook while Linus and Sebastian have never said the same things anywhere? Why does he claim that I (having worked on roughly 50 albums with many many different people) am "not an engineer at any point" and why is that so important to him (who´s only ever recorded with two bands and all of those albums having been recorded and mixed by the same guy)? Why is it even important to him to make somebody else look bad? He´s the one who got what he wanted, a new Obscura album that HE can now go promote and sell all over the world and play gigs with. Fretless guitar on the recording or not, nothing´s stopping him from performing these songs, right? So what is the reason for all this bull.... that, at the end of the day, only diminishes the reputation of his band?
Anyway, just to give you guys something specific on this issue,
here´s where I recognise my original takes in the final mix of "Sermon of the seven suns", and they are all fully fretless AND DOUBLED: rhythm 0.00-2.23, acoustic 3.08-3.49, rhythm 4.05-5.12 , 5.54-end, each riff running parellel with Steffen´s fretted guitar that sits in the middle of the mix. In all other parts I can´t tell wether it´s me or not, I sure as hell did record those parts though, fully aware that some may not be used. And obviously my solos are fretless as well. The fact that people even argue about wether it´s fretted or fretless only proves my point that the "fretless rhythm guitar didn´t work" argument is utter bull..... Believe me, if there´s fretless rhythm guitar in a deathmetal context where the rhythm guitar is at least double-tracked, you´ll hear IMMEDIATLY when it doesn´t work ;-)
I could give you the same details about the other songs, if needed. For now I just hope everybody enjoys the album nonetheless.
I´d love to let the other issues rest as well, but I can´t if he continues to lie in public. Allow me one last rant.
Steffen seems to think because he prevented me from posting playthrough videos by having the label block all my past Obscura videos due to "copyright infringement" (meaning that if I post any more videos by the same "rights-owner" (which is relapse) my youtube channel will be closed) he can just go out and twist things his way just because he WANTS to be the one who recorded all those parts.
I´d have loved to be the one who wrote and recorded "a transcendental serenade" (which is a ....ing ACE song IMO), but guess what- I´m not. You know what I mean? I also did NOTHING on "Ode to the sun" but do you see me taking credit for that? I mean, the whole thing is just absurd - they could´ve just credited me, make a decent post about my departure, put our faces in the ....ing booklet like any other band would do even if they got a new guitar player in the meantime - I mean, who the .... cares? Bands change members - big ....ing deal.
But no, he choose to do the opposite of all that. First he claimed I didn´t write anything, now I´m fully credited. Then he claimed he rerecorded most of my parts, now he doesn´t ("Weltseele" is 15 minutes long, if you claim you played 80 percent of the album, that either includes this one or you suck at math - but now it´s suddenly 7 songs, including one I was never supposed to play on anyway). How the hell did he manage to rerecord all those songs when the latest mixes of the album that I got from Victor were done roughly 30 hours before he delivered the final master and those had none of the rerecorded parts he speaks off? He claimed he spent 2 additional weeks in the studio - when exactly would that have been when I got fired on the last day of mixing the album? He claimed Christian Muenzner apologized for having recommended me and asked to be back in the band, now he´s silent about it and those parts have been taken out of interviews. Why are there even different versions of the album credits and bio floating around, being sent to different magazines and blogs? Why does one of my guitar students get 1500+word "hatemail" by him, containing all of the above? Why does the drummer of his other band troll me on facebook while Linus and Sebastian have never said the same things anywhere? Why does he claim that I (having worked on roughly 50 albums with many many different people) am "not an engineer at any point" and why is that so important to him (who´s only ever recorded with two bands and all of those albums having been recorded and mixed by the same guy)? Why is it even important to him to make somebody else look bad? He´s the one who got what he wanted, a new Obscura album that HE can now go promote and sell all over the world and play gigs with. Fretless guitar on the recording or not, nothing´s stopping him from performing these songs, right? So what is the reason for all this bull.... that, at the end of the day, only diminishes the reputation of his band?
Anyway, just to give you guys something specific on this issue,
here´s where I recognise my original takes in the final mix of "Sermon of the seven suns", and they are all fully fretless AND DOUBLED: rhythm 0.00-2.23, acoustic 3.08-3.49, rhythm 4.05-5.12 , 5.54-end, each riff running parellel with Steffen´s fretted guitar that sits in the middle of the mix. In all other parts I can´t tell wether it´s me or not, I sure as hell did record those parts though, fully aware that some may not be used. And obviously my solos are fretless as well. The fact that people even argue about wether it´s fretted or fretless only proves my point that the "fretless rhythm guitar didn´t work" argument is utter bull..... Believe me, if there´s fretless rhythm guitar in a deathmetal context where the rhythm guitar is at least double-tracked, you´ll hear IMMEDIATLY when it doesn´t work ;-)
I could give you the same details about the other songs, if needed. For now I just hope everybody enjoys the album nonetheless.
I´m glad the writing-issue seems resolved at least and I´m REALLY glad about the positive feedback the album is getting, despite the controversy.
I´d love to let the other issues rest as well, but I can´t if he continues to lie in public. Allow me one last rant.
Steffen seems to think because he prevented me from posting playthrough videos by having the label block all my past Obscura videos due to "copyright infringement" (meaning that if I post any more videos by the same "rights-owner" (which is relapse) my youtube channel will be closed) he can just go out and twist things his way just because he WANTS to be the one who recorded all those parts.
I´d have loved to be the one who wrote and recorded "a transcendental serenade" (which is a ....ing ACE song IMO), but guess what- I´m not. You know what I mean? I also did NOTHING on "Ode to the sun" but do you see me taking credit for that? I mean, the whole thing is just absurd - they could´ve just credited me, make a decent post about my departure, put our faces in the ....ing booklet like any other band would do even if they got a new guitar player in the meantime - I mean, who the .... cares? Bands change members - big ....ing deal.
But no, he choose to do the opposite of all that. First he claimed I didn´t write anything, now I´m fully credited. Then he claimed he rerecorded most of my parts, now he doesn´t ("Weltseele" is 15 minutes long, if you claim you played 80 percent of the album, that either includes this one or you suck at math - but now it´s suddenly 7 songs, including one I was never supposed to play on anyway). How the hell did he manage to rerecord all those songs when the latest mixes of the album that I got from Victor were done roughly 30 hours before he delivered the final master and those had none of the rerecorded parts he speaks off? He claimed he spent 2 additional weeks in the studio - when exactly would that have been when I got fired on the last day of mixing the album? He claimed Christian Muenzner apologized for having recommended me and asked to be back in the band, now he´s silent about it and those parts have been taken out of interviews. Why are there even different versions of the album credits and bio floating around, being sent to different magazines and blogs? Why does one of my guitar students get 1500+word "hatemail" by him, containing all of the above? Why does the drummer of his other band troll me on facebook while Linus and Sebastian have never said the same things anywhere? Why does he claim that I (having worked on roughly 50 albums with many many different people) am "not an engineer at any point" and why is that so important to him (who´s only ever recorded with two bands and all of those albums having been recorded and mixed by the same guy)? Why is it even important to him to make somebody else look bad? He´s the one who got what he wanted, a new Obscura album that HE can now go promote and sell all over the world and play gigs with. Fretless guitar on the recording or not, nothing´s stopping him from performing these songs, right? So what is the reason for all this bull.... that, at the end of the day, only diminishes the reputation of his band?
Anyway, just to give you guys something specific on this issue,
here´s where I recognise my original takes in the final mix of "Sermon of the seven suns", and they are all fully fretless AND DOUBLED: rhythm 0.00-2.23, acoustic 3.08-3.49, rhythm 4.05-5.12 , 5.54-end, each riff running parellel with Steffen´s fretted guitar that sits in the middle of the mix. In all other parts I can´t tell wether it´s me or not, I sure as hell did record those parts though, fully aware that some may not be used. And obviously my solos are fretless as well. The fact that people even argue about wether it´s fretted or fretless only proves my point that the "fretless rhythm guitar didn´t work" argument is utter bull..... Believe me, if there´s fretless rhythm guitar in a deathmetal context where the rhythm guitar is at least double-tracked, you´ll hear IMMEDIATLY when it doesn´t work ;-)
I could give you the same details about the other songs, if needed. For now I just hope everybody enjoys the album nonetheless.
I feel you man, but I think some of the stuff Steffen said about exactly what parts are rerecorded or not is probably just casual conversation and handwaving away details - explaining the exact details of every single riff would probably get tiring if you did like 5 hour-long interviews a day (which he said to me before we started) and you'd probably just shorten the story. I'm not trying to defend him, but there's likely to be some human error there.
As for the album credits and stuff, a lot of that kind of stuff tends to happen with labels, as labels have different distribution channels to send promos, physical mags get promos way earlier, then bigger sites like metalsucks and us, then smaller sites like random zines. Each outlet gets whatever promo is available at that time, physical mags often get incomplete versions of albums in terms of production. The credits also change over time as they're pressed into the booklet and if they don't fit some of it is cut etc. - there's a lot of stuff that happens behind the scenes there in my experience so the inconsistencies there aren't likely malice but just how the business operates.
I don't think he has the power to edit interviews after the fact, but who knows. As for the rest, I can't really say - that's between you and him.
Anyway, I made it a point in my review to highlight your playing and whatever is on the record or not, it sounds great! I love the album. In the end I don't think the average listener will realize who exactly recorded what part, though of course I understand that it matters to you. Sorry this all went south and whatnot.
Here's the review if you'd care to peruse it: http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2016/01/29/obscura-akroasis/
brutalwizard
Pretty Your Petunia
The whole album is just too good. The Fretless leads on this album has me wanting to get into fretless guitars so bad haha. Thanks for the insane amount of inspiration @fountainhead.
Chewy5150
Well-Known Member
The new album is amazing. All around good writing and musicianship. Now I totally want a fretless guitar haha.
I've had one for years, but I don't really know what to do with it! It's not easy to get a handle of.
Thorerges
Well-Known Member
Man, Welteseele is the highlight of the record.
