Obstacles
Dividual
PlayRec
With very few exceptions, purely instrumental rock albums get very tedious very quickly, often highlighting the importance of the vocal element in adding an extra, somewhat essential, dimension to the overall experience. København's Obstacles fall somewhere between exposing this shortfall and revealing that the inclusion of a singer isn't as important as some may think. The album displays an insane amount of technical wizardry, falling in and out of rock and free jazz, at times sounding like an intense math-rock jam session. Closing track "Locomotive" is where "Dividual" both rises and falls. Featuring the only vocal performance on the album, it makes it very clear that the music Obstacles plays benefits greatly from having a singer -- in this case Henrik W. Hald of Trust and Rising fame -- in the fold. His inclusion offers a distinct Mastodon vibe and shows, undeniably, that this is a band who has the potential to reach a level of appreciation that will escalate them to a greater international recognition. The music is of the same style as on the rest of the album; it's just that where the other, voice-free, tracks often wind up sounding a little too much like fret-wankery of the highest order, the vocal addition gives us something additional to concentrate on, resulting in a greater, true appreciation of the musicianship on display. There's great potential here. Whether or not the band decides to capitalize on that is entirely up to them.
- John Norby
