Review by chrisc7249 on June 1, 2022.

I'm getting kind of sick of waiting for The Odious Construct to announce their debut album. They released an amazing single last year, and I thought the album was on the horizon, but alas, we have yet to receive anything beyond that. I hate foreplay! Just give me the good shit already, TOC! Anyway, this EP they released in 2018 will have to hold me over until then. Even though there's only 5 songs on this, Shrine Of The Obscene should be enough to show anyone and everyone that The Odious Construct is one of the top tech death bands to watch out for in the coming years.

As always, we will start with influences. Please note that whenever I do these, I do not mean the band is copying any other bands, rather they fuse influences from different bands to create their own sound. For The Odious Construct, I get a heavy sense of melodic tinged tech death in their sound, namely bands like Alterbeast, Inferi, Enfold Darkness and Symbolik. The symphonic elements remind me closely of Inferi as well, but also a little bit of The Kennedy Veil. The jagged riffing and tasty licks take me back to the glory days of Arkaik and Decrepit Birth, while the ethereal nature of this EP also gives me a sense of Inanimate Existence. Quite a palate of bands to have under their belts, yes, and this broad range of influences helps TOC craft a new sound.

Shrine Of The Obscene doesn't waste any time - no meandering with weird build ups or pointless interludes. This is 19 minutes of pure technical death metal, with no fillers or preservatives. That's how I personally like my technical death metal, and metal in general - I'm more likely to enjoy an album when they're not wasting my time with some dumb intro song that just kills time and doesn't add to the album at all. Riffing on this album is at a high, with lots of bullet-speed riffs with a lot of energy and charisma to them, paving the way for the infectious leads that are played alongside them. This package of memorable riffing and solos makes for a great listen, and in just under 20 minutes, nothing ever becomes repetitive or bland. The drumming is what you should expect by now if you've listened to this style of music. Intense, bloody intense at that. Firing on all cylinders and never letting off the gas for a break. The bass is audible and uses some good techniques, though I think personally they could've done more with the bass playing on this album, but that's coming from a guy who loves bands with insane bass playing.

But the playing everywhere on this album is obviously insane. Everyone's a master of their instrument of choice and it continues to amaze me that so many talented people are willing to spend all this time building up this skill, just so they can write niched music that most people don't even know exists. Oh well. That's the unfortunate reality of the world. The good thing is that they're doing what they like and what makes them happy and they don't give a fuck about album sales and whether or not it'll get on the radio. Everyone wants to sell albums - but that shouldn't ever deter you from making the music you want to make.

Shrine Of The Obscene is a kick to the gut of pure technical bliss, and is not too long or bloated that it becomes boring. They actually have quite a unique sound going on here, and I dig it. They sound like a listenable mix of a multitude of technical death metal acts, and they've been able to create 5 excellent technical death metal songs. If these guys aren't on your radar and you enjoy any type of technical death metal, listen to this and keep an eye out for a debut. I have a feeling it's coming soon, and if it's any bit as good as this, we have another great band to enjoy.

FFO: Inferi, Decrepit Birth, Arkaik

Favorite song: 'Vortex Of Self'

Rating: 9 out of 10