Your Austin Music Minute maven was instantly captivated by the dark and complex tapestries woven by Obscured By Echoes on their 2012 full-length debut, Black Matter Manifesto. And, in many ways, this laid a rich groundwork for a more ominous series of tales looming on the OBE horizon.
It began with the eerie two-track EP, Nuclear Winter, an unsettling look into a nightmarish doomsday scenario of strange rain showers, mushroom clouds and a completely obliterated sense of security. What the hell happened? Only vocalist/songwriter Johnny Flores knows the fantastical depths from which these post-nuclear dream images emerged, but the result is a brilliantly trippy and engaging listen. The follow-up, Avidonia Part 1: The Escape, dives further into the electro-psych Armageddon with new characters in the tale, and what feels like a growing sense of madness.
Enter the third and newest piece of this otherworldly project, Avidonia Part 2: The Arrival. Is there hope? Redemption? Or annihilation? More stories unfold within this dark sonic nebula, another exquisitely crafted sci-fi musical narrative to rock out to.
Obscured By Echoes celebrates The Arrival with an EP release show tonight at Cheer Up Charlie’s, 901 Red River, with special guests Darkbird, Genuine Leather and Houston-based band Jerk. Doors open at 8 p.m.
Was it just a dream? The answer may forever be lost in the cosmos. This one comes highly recommended.
