Opprobrium
Discerning Forces

November 2000
Released: 2000, Nuclear Blast
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Nathan Robinson

Listening to this album reminds me of the glory days of death metal and picking up classic compilations like Roadrunner’s At Death’s Door, Century Media’s In the Eyes of Death, Earache’s Grindcrusher, and Nuclear Blast’s Death…is Just the Beginning. I still remember listening to the latter CD and thinking “who are these bands?” True, a lot of the bands on Death…is Just the Beginning were not my cup of tea, including Incubus (although they were one of the better bands). It wasn’t that they weren’t a good band, there were just too many other bands capturing my attention at that time period. For those that don’t know, Opprobrium is formerly known as Incubus. They have changed their name due to the existence of another Incubus…the alternafag Incubus. The real metal Incubus released two albums, Serpent Temptation and Beyond the Unknown in 1988 and 1990 respectively. Upon receiving the Discerning Forces and reading the bio, I thought “Incubus! I remember those guys!” So I was curious to hear what the ex-Incubus guys sounded like after ten long years. Well I can say I am impressed. Opprobrium plays straight-ahead death metal, not unlike the classic Incubus material. These guys channel their anger and hatred right into their instruments. No fucking around, just pure death metal with an abundance of riffs, dynamics, vicious attack, and abrasive vocals. The production really fucking rules…killer guitar crunch, nice bottom-end, and a perfect mix between the instruments. Overall, Opprobrium is nothing really different or unusual, but if you want some classic death metal like Massacre, old Edge of Sanity, Cancer, and old Death, here it is! Opprobrium knows how to play it this way because they came from that early death metal scene!