Terror Empire
Obscurity Rising

In the hands of the Portuguese Terror Empire we have both faced the terror and seen the empire strike back, now obscurity comes rising in their second full-length album. And obscurity might well be where they are heading considering how their last album with a very attractive artwork sounded just about like any other deathly thrash metal album out there so if they keep on that trend chances are that they will find themselves forgotten by the masses with only a small core following. Two years has passed since the debut so it is probably not very likely that they have taken any giant leaps in style, the artwork is not as nice as the previous album but somehow it still feels like it fits in with the previous two covers they have made. But what about the music, has it evolved?

The simple answer is no, it sounds about the same as the predecessor. It is thrash metal with death metal touches, aggressive vocals and powerful production. Like many other thrash bands is how I would do a quite description if someone asks me how Obscurity Rising sounds. There is nothing setting this album apart, it has no personal touches, nothing to really illustrate that it is Terror Empire – I don’t think anyone would guess Terror Empire if they heard any song from this album and was to guess what band had made it. The best thing is probably that they keep the playing time below forty minutes, even though the album still feels on the long side and the vocals are quite lacklustre.

Not the most interesting or impressive album I have ever heard, perhaps thrash fans will enjoy it and the band’s fans will certainly like it. I don’t find that much to like though, there is nothing that grabs my attention, the songs are ordinary, not bad just ordinary and like I wrote last time I wrote about them, it sounds like something that could have been done by any thrash band – not just Terror Empire. They need to find something more personal, something that sets them apart and something for me as a fan to find appealing. This album is simply heard and then immediately forgotten, almost the second the final song ends is it gone from the mind and no memory technique will be able to make you recall it.

Fans of the genre, fans of the band should check it out – you may like it. For the rest of us, I think that it is safe to conclude that this album never will make an impression. The songs and the album is not bad, it is just that the lack of novelty makes it quite boring. They should be able to do better than this, that is my final thoughts about this album.

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