Philippe Drouin created his own Obvurt.
The project was born out of a challenge issued by radio presenter Olivier “The Satan Guy” Berselli, who asked the guitarist to play his music alone, with two guitars. Once he succeeded, Philippe (guitars/vocals, Obvurt, ex-Unbreakable Hatred) teamed up with drummer John Longstreth (Origin, Hate Eternal, Malefic Throne, ex-Angelcorpse, ex-Gorguts, ex-Skinless…) to create his first album under the name Philippe Drouin Obvurt (coached by Michael Angelo Batio), Le Chemin du Gaucher.
The album obviously starts with a lot of tapping with Sérénité, a first composition that is both violent and hypnotic, allowing the musicians to warm up a bit before moving on to fast rhythms and more haunting moments, before letting Résilience tear us apart in turn. The sharp leads mingle with Philippe‘s few vocal parts, but they obviously remain in the majority and offer us a real technical demonstration while bringing a welcome jerky touch to punctuate our journey to Acharnement, which suddenly accelerates. Haunting harmonics and roars complement each other once again, but the track also features more ethereal passages that showcase the bass and contrast with the Brutal Death influences that are more present in the virulent moments, before Passion brings its dissonant touch at different speeds. The track is by far the most oppressive on the album, constantly delivering waves of disturbing leads while the rhythm section rages on until the very end, then Aria “On The G String” J.S. Bach 1685-1750 calms the spirits by offering a break led by the man’s double guitar, which brings its melancholic melodies at a very gentle pace, allowing us to catch our breath. We continue with Persévérance, which places bursts of disconcerting harmonics over a thick rhythm, taking advantage of his instrument to deliver twice as much dissonance on this short piece that ends up surrendering to silence, then the musician continues with Gojira Medley, a composition whose name obviously refers to our French pride that shines internationally. Gojira‘s groovy prog touch is obviously in the spotlight in three stages, first with the intense The Way Of All Flesh, followed by the disturbing Flying Wales and finally the heavy World to Come, which – in addition to featuring on my two favorite albums by the combo – fit together perfectly and allow the duo to captivate us with their mastery to close the album.
Although ultimately quite short, Le Chemin du Gaucher represents a real technical challenge for any musician! Philippe Drouin Obvurt has developed a new way of playing Technical Death Metal, and this first draft is more than promising for the future!
85/100
