OBSCURE was one of the very first Death Metal bands formed in Spain, around the ‘88/’89. The core of the band draws from the seed of a previous band, in which Enri Sanchís (Drums) Boris Ortiz (Guitar) and Rafa Cortés (Guitar) decided to take a different path and start writing new songs. To this first line-up, Vicent Riera joined later as a vocalist.
At that time they took the name OBSCURE and a few months later they recorded their first demo “Disgusting Reality” at the end of ’89. This first edition consisted of two songs recorded in studio and three recorded live. In the course of the studio recording, they asked Anselmo Roca (singer and guitar in AGGRESSOR) to join OBSCURE on bass just for live shows, but since AGGRESSOR did split-up, Anselmo remained as a permanent member. In May 1990 the band releases another version of this demo with live songs replaced by an enhanced version. They used the opportunity to add a bonus live song to this second edition. The stylistic of this demo is a kind of Hardcore/ Thrash in the type of Carnivore and other bands typical of that time.
Not long after “Disgusting Reality”, the band started to work on their next demo “Curse the Course”. It was in October 1990 when the recording started at Distorsión Hasta la Locura Studios with a 4- tracker. It took until December to finish it and the band released a first edition in the same month. After this, OBSCURE searched for more dense and powerful sounds by downtunning their instruments with slower and heavier riffs, leading the sound of the band towards to what would be the Death Metal sound.
Regarding shows, it is here when the most prolific time for the band comes. Drowned Prod. released a 2nd pressing of “Curse the Course” with full color cover & pro-tape, having an important impact at both national and international levels. The band appeared in several fanzines and underground publications together with emerging bands from that moment like Entombed, Gorefest, Unleashed, Grave, Darkthrone, My Dying Bride... All the Drowned copies were sold out and the band released a third edition of “Curse the Course” later on.
More concerts and interviews arrived. The band started their third and last demo “Non Existendi Cultus” in ’92, their most developed work until then. But they started becoming discouraged. All the great effort and global impact didn’t get to consolidate any relevant agreement in spite of having interesting proposals from Wild Rags and Overdrive (Soziedad Alkohólika). A number of worrying events (Boris left the band, temporarily replaced by Lenon, the band’s moving to different rehearsal rooms and labor circumstances of some members...) took OBSCURE to the final break up.
This non consensual decision comes when Vicent Riera decided to quit OBSCURE and start his own band NADIR, along with Anselmo Roca on bass. This happened by the year ’94 and supposed the dissolution of the band.
After 11 years, back in the 2005, most of the NADIR members: David García (Drums), Anselmo Roca (Bass) and Vicent Riera (Vocals) took the decision to count on Rafa Cortés in order to bring OBSCURE back. José Ochando joined the band on guitar and started a very difficult stage. Four different drummers in less than four years (David, Enri, Edgar y Sergio), three rehearsal room changes, José had a serious car accident that put him away for a long time... the adverse circumstances didn’t allow the band to make progress.
In 2008 Xtreem Music gives OBSCURE the opportunity to release their demos on CD with unreleased tracks (old and new ones), but once again Vicent Riera quits the project with no explanation, to start in 2015 a new one called DEVOTION, along with other band members (José Ochando and Sergio).
It is at this point that Rafa Cortés, together with Enri Sanchís and Anselmo Roca (founder members) took the decision of not leaving OBSCURE to disband by any unilateral decision. Although they couldn’t count on Vicent Riera, they pick the Xtreem Music’s offering back to collect and release all the OBSCURE’s demos on CD.
Eventually, OBSCURE releases “Back to Skull” in August 2016, which collects their three demos: "Non Existendi Cultus" ('92), "Curse the Course" ('90) and "Disgusting Reality" ('89) coming with the best possible sound (unmastered, but enhanced) as well as all demo covers, lyrics and many photos & flyers. Nowadays, the recording of the unpublished songs is still in process.
Xtreem Releases:
Band:
OBSCURE
Title:
Back to Skull
CAT. #:
XM 214 CD
Format:
CD [56:18]
Genre:
Death Metal
Released:
08.2016
Media:
If you run a zine, webzine or you need high quality graphic stuff about the band, you can download here a .ZIP file with: Pictures, Logos and Album cover.
