AXIS OF ADVANCE - Obey
November 24, 2004, 20 years ago
(Red Stream)
At the fringes where control meets chaos, Axis Of Advance display a knack for combining the brutality of the former with the danger of the latter. Neither death, black nor grind, but obviously extreme in nature, this Alberta-based unit uses a rhythm section that goes for the gut while the guitars buzz about the brain in search of cells to decimate. In a sense one could describe this as cross between Venom and Dismember, but that probably wouldn't do this band justice. Really, the easiest comparison would be to label mates and fellow wall-of-sound enthusiasts Arkhon Infaustus, both threatening for the "louder than thou" title. Axis Of Advance's secret weapon in its advancement towards this goal on this latest full-length is guest drummer J. Reid who provides some ruthlessly inventive fills and rolls that furthers the violent tendencies of these eight tracks. Man, this drum assault has to be heard to be believed, easily being the best performance behind a kit this year. Down-tuned and blastbeated, with some doom tendencies, Obey is one of extreme metal's highlights of 2004.
