The Greeks Obscura Nova are making their mark in the not so widespread Greek industrial/electro/EBM metal scene with their second album ‘Inverted Soul‘. Having already heard their first EP when it was released (‘New Darkness‘, 2013), I feel that with this new album they come forward making their presence clear. As they have stated from the beginning, the three members have different musical backgrounds, and this variety is made clear when listening to their work. If you analyze the two albums, you can certainly spot the various influences.
But for now, let’s talk about ‘Inverted Soul‘. The word which immediately popped up in my mind when I first listened to the album was: ‘minimalistic’. Probably the artwork contributed to that thought as well. While it has all the elements of the EBM sound, it’s not so dark or – allow me the use of the word – ‘twisted’. The electro and techno influences can be clearly heard, and are nicely balanced with the deep vocals and lyrics (‘oh, there I found the darkness!‘). I don’t want to be misunderstood here, pointing out the incomplete absence of darkness. I sense that this band is going to play a lot with sound, and this feeling came when I listened to ‘Inverted Soul‘ a second time. In my opinion, the heart of their inspiration and the crossover of their musical influences is found in the track ‘Afraid to Die‘, as well as in the last two cover songs. The first is ‘Alice‘ of The Sisters Of Mercy. The second really comes as a surprise, as it is a song by an 80’s Greek post-punk band called Headleaders (‘I’m Living Like A Fool‘). Personally, it had never occurred to me that a punk song could be an electro cover, but this depends on one’s personal music taste.
‘Inverted Soul‘ by Obscura Nova has a very well-produced and interesting sound, and leaves me curious as to how will they proceed with these mixed influences in future projects.
Mary Kalaitzidou