Oblivion Beckons is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Byzantine. It was released on January 22, 2008. According to vocalist Chris "OJ" Ojeda, the band "stripp[ed] down some things like the vocals for a more aggressive style and ... [went] out on a limb on some other things [they] have never tried before." Ojeda also described Oblivion Beckons as being the band's most varied album.[4] The album reached #8 on CMJ.[5]
| Title |
|---|
| 1. | "Absolute Horizon" | 5:00 |
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| 2. | "Nadir" | 3:41 |
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| 3. | "Oblivion Beckons" | 3:54 |
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| 4. | "The Gift of Discernment" | 5:29 |
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| 5. | "Expansion and Collapse" | 3:44 |
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| 6. | "Catalyst" | 3:36 |
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| 7. | "Pattern Recognition" | 4:14 |
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| 8. | "Renovation" | 2:16 |
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| 9. | "Centurion" | 4:23 |
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| 10. | "Receiving End of Murder" | 4:13 |
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| 11. | "All Hail the End Times" | 3:46 |
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| 12. | "Deep End of Nothing" | 5:38 |
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| 13. | "A Residual Haunting" | 4:11 |
|---|
- Chris "OJ" Ojeda – vocals, guitars, piano
- Tony Rohbrough – guitars, keyboards
- Matt Wolfe – drums, acoustic guitar, lead guitar
- Michael "Skip" Cromer – bass, vocals, lead guitar
- Aaron Fisher – producer/engineer
- Drew Mazurek – mixing
- Allen Douches – mastering
- During the song "Deep End of Nothing" all four band members trade lead guitar solos since all members played guitar in previous bands before Byzantine.
- The Morse code intro that starts off the album spells out the phrase "Absolute Horizon Brings Death" three times.
- A common theme of death and finality is used throughout the lyrics coinciding with the fulfillment of their recording contract.
- The guitar melody at the beginning and end of "Centurion" is the haunting melody to the classic horror movie "The Howling".
- The album artwork utilizes once again the image of Tovah Miller, who was the actress in the music video for "Jeremiad" and the short performance film on the DVD Salvation.
[1]
