Trollzorn Records are always good for a metal surprise or two. In 2025, they steadily fed us German underground fare and landed two hits onto our roster, Bergthron and Thorondir. That’s not a bad crop to reap on a webzine like ours with limited firepower and crew members beset with bad taste and terrible decision-making urges.
So, it looks like the RMR crew will get moar German roar as 2026 finally takes off to tastier shores. And this time it is meaty Death Metal with blood dripping still from its recently dissected innards. Raw and furious, that’s kinda what we need these days. So, let’s welcome Obscurity to our meager fold. Ascheregen (ash rain in English), their 10th full-length record since the band’s inception in 1997, would like a word. Volcanic musings in Viking mode. SHIELD WALL!!!
50 minutes of airtime can be long. Very long indeed, especially when you’re served with full-throated reckless brutality for the duration. After one of those ubiquitous intro parts, Obscurity let loose straight with elegantly blackened Melodic Death Metal. To the point that this here crew opened doors and windows to check if the Hegg man1 wasn’t roaming about the props somewhere. The RMR crew found a sturdier version of Amon Amarth-esque shenanigans blended with a mighty dose straight from the rune-laden lands Varg2 usually visits with some gusto. So, in essence, expect a brand of Teutonic Viking Metal, delivered by a landlocked band from Germany’s central Midgard.
But before you start, you better get to that high ground and dig in. Because, Ascheregen will roar just over you with monolithic force. It is a ferocious attack that only somewhat deserves the ‘melodic’ tag, in a record where blackened items are abundant in the mix. You’ll get the ambient interlude here and there, even a semi-coherent chorus in Schwur. Plus a few acoustic chords to break things up, but by and large, you’re faced with an endless wall of sound that will continue to assault until you either give up or time’s up.
That said, the RMR crew got a kick out of the few times when the lead guitar went off on a tangent and hit that meaty, raw, and grimy sound. And that sound goes hand-in-glove with the ever-present rasps, snarls, and growls that won’t let no stone of yer castle unturned. Moments of pure metal rapture that will meet you like them war axes crunching through flesh with abandon.
So, memorable Extreme Metal truly is on the menu. Obscurity also spiked their wares with a loose theme around – and I quote – “…the old Norse mythology, the violent shadows of Christianization, and the fractures of our modern civilization.” There you go. Yet, all of that won’t hide a certain lack of variation. And this (sinking) feeling installs itself as of about mid-point. Even the introduction of Erik Grawsiö of Månegarm on vocal duty for the excellent track Rúnar Víg won’t help improve this sentiment.
In the end, however, Ascheregen turned into a rock-solid, tastefully blackened Melodic Death Metal piece with a severe Viking itch. The RMR crew was mighty glad that we didn’t find yet another record filled with soaring battle hymns. Instead, Obscurity sent us a boatload of war thunder, the modern equivalent of those terrible drums, and a relentless metal attack that threatened to turn us into a pulp. One that is poignantly precise and straight on point to boot. The roaring sound rumbling over our untrimmed chests and ripped stomachs did our frazzled souls some good. Sorely needed after a tumultuous start into a year that – again – doesn’t bode too well.
Oh, and yes, those 50 minutes were indeed long, very long.
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Trollzorn Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 29 January 2026