Coming from nowhere (actually, Australia, Poland and the UK), Obzerter are a delightfully progressive metal troupe, combining a variety of glorious heaviness into one cohesive sound. Soundshock finds out more...
First of all, who does what in your band?
Anthony Smith – vocals
Simon Christie – guitar
Michal Maryniak – guitar
Lukasz Skatula – bass,backing vocals
Tom Soron – drums
Where are you from?
Anthony is from Innisfail (Queensland, Australia), Michal and Lukasz are from Wroclaw and Wodzislaw Slaski, Poland and Simon and Tom are from the far more exotic North East England (Newcastle and Darlington).
How long you been together?
We've been together as Obzerter since December 2009 when Anthony joined on vocals, and Tom joined in December 2010.
Who are your main inspirations for Obzerter?
We all pull from a wide range of musical influences and inspirations, but the metal influences are bands like Gojira, Meshuggah, Between the Buried and Me, SikTh, Opeth, Tool, Isis, Pantera, Testament, Carcass. Michal and Lukasz also bring some Polish bands into the mix like Kobong and Moja Adrenalina. Anthony's vocals are influenced by people like Phil Anselmo, Kirk Windstein, and Fenriz & Nocturno Culto from Darkthrone.
How would you describe Obzerter?
Heavy, organic, odd timings and contrasting harmonies, with a solid groove.
What do you think makes Obzerter stand out?
I think what makes us different is the balance brought about by our influences. We have a lot of odd harmonies and timings but pull it all together with riffs that make you want to mosh and bang your head.
How did your previous bands pave the way for Obzerter?
Everyone has been playing in bands for a long time, and had such different past experiences. Even just in being parts of different scenes around the world starting from Anthony doing a lot of thrash/death metal stuff in Austrailia, Michal and Lukasz in Polish metal and punk bands, and Simon and Tom playing a lot of prog metal around the UK.
Could you describe the live Obzerter experience?
Live we like to put as much energy in as possible while remaining tight. It's very important with the music we do that we're as tight as possible but at the same time no one wants to watch us stand still staring at fretboards and sticks! We enjoy playing live and like to help get the audience in the mood to tear it up.
What’s next for Obzerter?
We recently changed drummers with Tom joining us at the end of last year so we'd like to do some recording with him, particularly on some of the new tracks we've got. We've also got probably a couple of albums worth of material that we're starting to put into our set and want to record. Other than that we're just going to continue gigging and perhaps throw in a small tour sometime.
Finally, is there anyone you want to thank?
I don't know, maybe Jack Daniels? I think we'd just like to thank anyone who has helped us out like Andy from Collapse for letting us use his “vocal booth” to record the vocals for our EP and everyone that's come to see us play or bought the EP. Thanks.
Breaking The Waves 
