Review by Death8699 on May 25, 2019.

Follow up release from the album Dawnbringer, this album reflects that of Satanic rock and roll but is considered to fit into the genre of black metal. The lineup consists of Tim on vocals, Brett on guitars, Kyle on guitars, Jeremy on bass and James on drums. I wouldn't consider this band to be within the black metal genre at all except for the vocals sounding a little bit like Legion from Devian/Marduk. There is much to be said about this band that I will orchestrate.

Musically, they have distorted tone guitars with way heavy blues influence to their sound. All of the songs reflect this and aren't very fast paced at all. They have a distinctive groove to them featuring rhythm guitars with a crunch tone to them and heavy rock influence. If there's something to say about this band, it would be that they're highly skilled in achieving their album title as well as a very unique style of black metal that's finely played out.

Every song contains guitars that aren't highly difficult to play if you're a guitarist. They feature palm muted riffs galore mixed with distinctive rhythms that are noteworthy and highly innovative. The lead guitar bits are highly technical and played out with vigor. They suit the rhythms quite well and the vocals are raspy with occasional change ups, but not many. Tempos of the guitars for the most part are like I've mentioned, slow especially on the instrumental track. There's a clean tone guitar mixed with lead bits.

Even the faster tracks are still not that fast like blast beating. The song entitled "Overthrone" is more on the black metal end than the rest of the songs. This band doesn't play anything that's overtly heavy. The distortion on the guitars make them sound more thrash metal based. This is featured throughout the album. Some songs darker than others. Most of them dark though with a little kick to them.

I haven't heard their debut release, so I cannot compare this one to their debut. Something new is here with this album that I have yet to hear which black metal is played with a rock and roll style of guitar rhythms. I'm still perplexed by this. Not many bands that I've heard play like this, but the lyrical contents are mindless. It's not difficult to sing about Satanism. What is difficult is to hear a band play rock and roll style of guitar work with these lyrical concepts.

The mixing/production sound was a little bit flat sounding especially on the drums. But the vocals, guitars, bass, and drums are still in there pretty solid and well mixed together to compliment the album. The production could've been better, but for an underground band, the "raw" sound encompassed the album well to make it into a decent release. I suppose that they made this album with that kind of sound to fit into the overall darker fix to them.

Something's happened here that never does happen with a black metal band and again that's to be that of one who plays guitars with a rock base to them. This album isn't overtly heavy, but highly original and unique. I suppose that you could say Unholy Rock and Roll really fits with the sound of this album. If you're into rock, you may even take a liking to this release. I thought that it was highly unique and noteworthy. They really did a good job with achieving their goal of sounding highly original. Pick this up!

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Alex on August 5, 2020.

Picking out the meaningful bunch from the subgenre of technical death metal could be tedious especially if the pool of groups are all damn good musical technicians. However, there are some that have a bit of an edge helping them in addition to their music's structural labyrinth. Oneiric Celephaïs is one of those bands, their debut EP The Obscure Sibyl has landed them a deal with Gore House Productions and it’s easy to hear why. That "edge" the band has is their ability to merge serendipitous melodic passages with their complex instrumental wizardry. They clearly don't appear to be the kind of tech death band that would spend 45 minutes composing mindless wankery that usually passes for technical death metal; instead they understand they have an obligation to created memorable songs. As many have stated before it’s easy to write technical metal but difficult to compose material that is both technical and more so, catchy.

The Obscure Sibyl is proof of what bliss could be accomplished when merging complex instrumental patterns with intoxicating progressive rhythm sections. 'The Aeon of Death' establishes melodic milieu from the onset with sensible chord progressions, and heavily atmospheric riffing to accompany the serpentine flare that'd sweep you off your feet. Not forgetting to mention, the vocals appear with an organic gruff that keeps the listener posted; if anything, this makes the music more believable. The drumming arrives punctually through a technical showcase that is seamlessly interwoven with the tight complex riffing. 'From Beyond' takes us through an interstellar drift with an array of flawless changes and moderations in time signatures and rhythms. This track does what 'The Aeon of Death' did, but to much greater effect, thus elevating the melodicism and fused intricacies all the while picking at your mind as it compels you to partake and attempt to predict what will happen next.

Having quickly established that they can write structurally sound music, Oneiric Celephaïs then proceed to blow us away with their best song off the album, 'Vǫluspá', a 12 minute piece of unrivaled poetic soundscapes magnifying the profound totality of Oneiric Celephaïs' musical capacity. From orchestral singing, to acoustic intermezzos, to beautiful and lush passages of fluent melodicism, to near perfect clockwork instrumental wizardry and timing, this track is compositionally monolithic, ceaseless in its ability to hypnotize and direct the listener and sounds like the main reason behind being picked up by Gore House Productions.

Demonstrating the ability to forego the common standards of technical death metal is not easy, especially when it's lauded and rewarded by many. However, Oneiric Celephaïs clarify that they intend to make music that is above and beyond the accepted norm and The Obscure Sibyl is the proof this talented quartet stands by.

Rating: 8.7 out of 10