Review by Jeger on February 27, 2025.

I just knew once I read that this album is about self-destruction, transcendence, healing from psychological torment and all that bullshit, I just had to review it. There's a lot of this stuff floating around the black metal scene as of late: epic, complex and deep like some kind of progressive/technical/avant-garde/experimental black metal album that shows just how fucking good the band truly is but without really delivering the true black metal goods. Into a mire of souped-up engineering techniques, music that only the most advanced of civilizations can read and probably some jazz fusion thrown in there somewhere. On April 4, the Georgia boys known as Tómarúm will release their sophomore album, Beyond Obsidian Euphoria, via Prosthetic Records.

The top selling point when it comes to these types of records is the fact that you just don't know what you're getting yourself into. There's always something unexpected around every turn. The intro to "Shallow Ecstasy" for example as it violently transitions from some kind of far East acoustic guitar passage into the vortex: surging riffs, rapid-fire double-bass currents and a multi-faceted vox attack. Progressive guitar doodles and unpredictable changes in tempo create an experience worth exploring after you take too many THC gummies… Like if Anciients wrote a black metal album. A quintet and what a way to utilize a full lineup. Full and layered, colorful and yet blackened to perfection is the way here. Fuck video games, these kids were too busy playing their instruments and it's paying dividends. "Shed This Erroneous Skin" - is it Final Fantasy or is it black metal? The world may never know... Striking up the visuals here with mystifying atmospheric elements/effects and then a Satriani worshipping lead. I'd hate to have to mix this thing. There's about a thousand things going on, and I usually dread acoustics because so few bands know how to use them viably. Not the case here as our boys utilize what sounds like a variety of different instruments to generate a fantasy-reveling, transported-to-a-parallel-universe level situation.

Prog can be pretty obnoxious stuff, and then once you cross into the technical realm, then things start to get real shaky. There should never be a technical black metal sub-genre. This is quite enough, thanks. Still quite discernible as black metal with maybe a few technical leanings here and there, but borderline excessive. And just when things even think about starting to get dull, a striking lead or a series of WTF riffs to keep you locked in like eyes on ass… Some of this stuff sounds like music you'd wanna play over a thousand loud speakers to try and persuade alien invaders into thinking that we're a lot more powerful and advanced then we look. Other parts like the guitar solos in "Halcyon Memory: Dreamscapes Across The Blue" are more like what you'd play as the soundtrack to a blissful skydive. As moving as it is entertaining and downright mind-boggling at some points is Beyond Obsidian Euphoria.

There's a whole lot to appreciate here. If you dislike prog then you'll hate it, but I think the majority of enthusiasts will be on board for the musicianship alone. People are literally butchering black metal these days, but this doesn't feel that way. Too much soul and passion. Much talent but also much of the writer's self was put into this work. If it's not meaningful then it's not black metal and Tómarúm understands this sentiment. It can get a bit exhausting after a while, sure, but damn if it's not fascinating. I wouldn't waste too much time in search of what's catchy, because Beyond Obsidian Euphoria is, as I mentioned before, about transcendence in both sound and concept. To live a life free of the harsh dictatorships of mental and emotional afflictions? That would make you a rarity. Might as well sit back and soak in all that depression and trauma. After all, it produces such agreeable music. To the prog! To the black and to Tómarúm - one of the many austere faces behind the modern black metal revolution.

Rating: 8 out of 10