Ne Obliviscaris, Auckland NZ, 2018

Ne Obliviscaris 

21st February 2018
The Kings Arms, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Kate Taylor. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.

Swooping in as if on winged beast to bring metal mercy to the dying Kings Arms in Auckland; Ne Obliviscaris (pronounced; Nay Ob-li-vis-kar-is) were delighted to join us on their first ever visit to New Zealand. Thrilling us with cuts from their 2017 newie Urn, their extreme, progressive yet melodic metal reigned supreme.

Kicking off the evening were scene legends Metal Tower; for myself making it just in time to see Set on End get started, it was a relaxed if not a little starry eyed crowd that were given lashings of multi-influenced metal. In an evening that seemed to be about endings; Jesse Cleaver, vocalist for Set on End let us know he was playing with the band for the last time on this performance. Thanking his band mates and also their supporters for taking him along on this journey; it was an emotive moment that made everyone that little bit more nostalgic and cognitive about the loss of The Kings Arms too. Delivering a set from the heart, it was a great way to see off this talented vox man.

I always think honesty is the best policy and I’ve got to say I didn’t know much about Ne Obliviscaris until I saw them take the stage, aside from them being a big deal; and that they come from Melbourne, Australia. Premium Aussie Metal? Sign me up! Encountering the formidable line-up of six shadowy figures infiltrating the stage and proceeding to quickly blast us into a prog-metal journey quest was something else altogether. Just wow, the intricacy of this band’s compositions are staggering, layered and hefty yet delicate at the same time. I mean, Tim Charles standing up there slaying away on a violin. A violin! Registering in my ‘Brutal Metal’ brain filing system as comparable to Septic Flesh, Iced Earth or Fleshgod Apocalypse, so you know impossibly skilled.

Ne Obliviscaris made short work of getting the crowd onside by leading us in chants, and really connecting with the impressive sized, especially-for-a-Wednesday audience. Intra Venus was offered to us by Tim as an apology for having underestimated their fanship in NZ and not having visited us earlier; this was certainly made amends for by the soaring, diving solos and blasting beats contained within. Ne Obliviscaris is a striking composite of many factors forming to make one seamless and exciting whole; while being serious and self-deprecating in equal measures, as Tim introduced one blistering track “I think we’ll continue on with a song from our second album, it’s a nice short one. It’s only 17 minutes.” The crowd was surfed, lighters were held aloft, one crowd-surfer was ferried up to the stage and the waiting arms of the mysterious and guttural throat-ed Xenoyr, for a lasting dark embrace, before being returned to the roiling pit.

With the set drawing to a close, Tim thanked us again for coming out, declaring “…this was our first time in New Zealand, but I can promise it won’t be our last”. Then dispensing with the charade of an encore Ne Obliviscaris instead just double checked our consent before delivering us another pulverizing platter of prog and gave us one last song to remember them by. It’s comforting to reflect that from the ashes of Auckland’s most beloved venue, rises Ne Obliviscaris on their first experience with us and rapidly advancing towards their date with destruction in Wellington at Valhalla tonight. Revels!

Ne Obliviscaris:

Set On End:

Were you there at the Kings Arms for this heavy progressive metal gig? Or have you seen Ne Obliviscaris perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!