Destination : Oblivion

Destination: Oblivion
December Sun
By Laura Wiebe Taylor

A chronicle of digital age horrors, December Sun is divided into three “cycles” that roughly translate into birth, murder and death. The sections don’t develop their own distinct sounds as much as they offer different takes on Destination: Oblivion’s full range of ambience and aggression. Samples and electronic effects tend to engulf the abrasively percussive guitar work, emphasising the industrial half of the industrial metal equation. December Sun owes a lot to the early ’90s heavy electronic scene and even evokes Canadians Malhavoc at times, but the band also channel a little classic heavy metal and kick into a catchy groove that might belong to Marilyn Manson’s truly diabolical cousin. The single “Sick” shows up fairly early but individual songs are less successful than the album’s cumulative effect. Only at the end does it all really make sense. (Independent) - Exclaim!

Since 2003, I have heard two full-length albums and one EP from Portland, Oregon-based Destination: Oblivion, and all three have been consistently focused on industrial music. There have been line-up changes, the addition of real drums, and varying usage of samples and keyboards, but the overall style hasn’t changed much. For the group’s fifth effort, Decay, the music has shifted a bit more into metal territory for more of a hybrid approach - something I think Destination: Oblivion has always tried to do but didn’t get quite right until this release.
From the opening beats of the weighty “Suffocation,” it’s clear that Decay is a much heavier album than Destination: Oblivion’s previous efforts. The guitar and bass, handled by three of the band’s four members at various points throughout the album, are much more aggressive and thicker sounding. While keyboards and programming are still a part of the mix, it seems this is no longer the focus. Perhaps it’s just that the electronic bits mesh better with the rest of the instruments. “Don’t Believe” is a good example of this - the synth is much more in tune with the drums, guitar, and bass, and the result is a much more cohesive track than I’ve heard from the band before.
It seems the members of Destination: Oblivion have taken more of a team approach to songwriting this time around, and the strength of this method suits the band immensely. With four self-released albums already under their belts, it is clear these guys are really beginning to blossom in the studio. The production has only gotten better with each album, and Decay, with the slight shift in style and a more unified feel, is the band’s best release yet.
Destination: Oblivion’s Decay is still an industrial album despite the infusion of a more metal-oriented feel, so it’s really targeted at certain niche of potential fans. If you are generally drawn to this type of music, this disc should prove intriguing. As the group truly begins to hit its songwriting stride, only greater things can be in store for the future.

-Jennifer Patton
03/22/06
- Delusions Of Adequacy

By: Jett Black </about.html>
New music comes crawling out of the PDX woodwork on a daily basis, now. Every day that passes brings news of new music from previously unannounced local musicians, and then also new music from celebrated musicians re-locating to Portland, Oregon from any and all points of the USA.
Thirteen Beginnings to the End... emanating from inside Dead Awake studios in Portland Oregon, where Dennis Navratil and Rob Freeman of Destination: Oblivion distress keyboards, industrial noise, hard bass and heavy guitar influence to create a greatly promising, melodic, and rocking energy for this album, their debut release.
Let's delve more deeply into Thirteen Beginnings to the End...
Track One, "Destination", begins with the solid bass line, then distorted sound overtakes the listener and drives heavy with percussion-induced noise into the next track, "The Flow".
"Waiting for the Storm" begins softly, then turns ominous as the storm arrives. Alternating dark piano and off-beat noise mark the arrival of a stormy atmospheric conditions. Listen closely. You can hear the winds stirring sanity into madness.
Now, I'm not certain about the title to track 4. On the cd cover it is listed as "Desensitize", however the insert lists the track as "Descent". Perhaps a play on the words at work here. NIN lyrical influences on this one into a heavy, burning frenzy of alarming auditory distortions churning like a mosh pit following in time with the music.
"Lies" features more prominent guitar work leading the listener through the intro like a slow trip down a lonely stretch of midnight highway covered in cascading rain. The mood clears up a bit with a brief, contemplative quietude, transitioning next into an almost Suicidal Tendencies lyrical diversion with vaguely familiar guitar riffs rocking the moment forward and then, suddenly, the movement pulls over to the side of the road and stops.
Speeding guitars rapidly move the pace of "Shell" into a split second change over which brings us into "Buried" now featuring samples, piano, distorted guitar noise - and angry "shut the fuck up" vocals which strongly remind me of vocal stylings presented by Sean D. in "Sleep" off the latest album by Die My Darling entitled Virulent.
Track 8, "Tendencies", reflects gurgling noises beneath resonating guitar sounds reminding me here of the "Charm" track by Sewn off the Towards the Sky compilation put out years ago by Neue Asthetik Multimedia (New York). "Tendencies" lyrical content speaks of crushing skulls, maggots, decay, climbing mountains of bodies, trying to reach the sun, and "recklessly we will only burn ourselves". A little something for the new metal fans here!
Track 9, "Claiming victim" brings back more piano support in a Reznor style.
Track 10: "Our God Greed": Industrial dance club beats and synth. We hear footsteps, then a gunshot. Reverberating female samples which ask, "will we wake up changed?"
Track 11: "Hope" puts forth an trance inducing instrumental track. Subtle nuances glide in and up slowly to become more dominant forces supporting mantras of punctuated bitterness.
Track 12: "Last Stop" transitions into being like a watery reflection growing still and clear and mesmerizing, which to some extent reminds me a bit of an independent band from Atlanta knowns as NOTHING INSIDE.
Track 13: "Wormhole" the final track, highlights Thirteen Beginnings to the End in a 3-part breakdown: "Reverberation", "The Feast of the Worm", and "The One Second Eternity". Nice transitions, with screams and freaky sounds, drawing attention to "the feast". The One Second Eternity" exits gently with lovely piano keys.
Overall, this Navratil-Freeman mix of Thirteen Beginnings to the End presents electronic noise, aggro-industrial, and goth-punk flavours to unleash a passionate collection from the angst, ire, and turmoil of poetry within romantic relationships and the pursuit of personal self.
Destination: Oblivion might mix well with Portland local artists Zone Wire, Written in Ashes, Ghost Parade, and AntiWorld. Gazing further south along the west coast, I'd recommend pairing Destination: Oblivion with Die My Darling on a tour into the Northwest.
- In Music We Trust

Posted by: Cedric on Feb 09, 05 | 8:00 am | Profile“Destination: Oblivion produces the hardest hitting Industrial Music ever heard by those who get off on the esoteric sense of self absorbed hatred and discontent.” That is what they promise us at least. The band emerged on the underground scene in 2002 with the release of their first full length CD “Thirteen Beginnings To The End” on Dead Awake. “Shock Therapy” was released in early 2004 and features cuts from “Thirteen Beginnings” remixed by Modern Neglect, Not Economically Viable, Misanthropy, and some new material. Don’t expect slick production or compromises, instead is sound very nasty and it looks like the band has been fiddling with all kind of equipment in order to achieve a sound that is extremely disturbed. I don’t know if you have to take all of this serious or if the band is just spitting in your face. For info, contact www.destinationoblivion.net . (BVI:6) BVI - Side-Line

Many industrialist upstarts sound the same, but some do it better, and take it further, than others... destination oblivion definitely do; dennis navratil and rob freeman's sonic cauldron is a melting-pot of wicked cross-pollination. Blasting off with our god greed guitartronic tsunamis ripple and churn along, carrying growling vocals and spoken samples in their wake while eerie organs stream above. Angrily railing lies (slap the ol' parental warning on this one!) subdues briefly to allow some cool Pixie-esque guitar interludes to override the punkier vocalities; toss in liberal amounts of percussion, glaring noise and snotty attitude and then mix well!
Unexpectedly gentle strings and a blurred stream of media voices fall into the ominously whorling void of (more or less) instrumental descent (2:51) as do melancholy piano phrases; all violently erupts and residually fades. Slowburn gothrock meshes the macabre with the metallic, then distorts boundaries even more with shouted rap and computer-keys... throughout, the unusual balancing act of disparate styles is nicely-managed as are the effective levels of fury to mood to skill. Not very ambient, but very electronic and cracklingly raw; I appreciate the 15-minute opportunity to rage into catharsis... grrrrrrr!! B+ - Ambientrance

Okay so I have to admit when I first started listening to this CD I was a little worried. I mean when a band starts off its album singing its own band name over and over... sure, it's bold... it beats the name recognition into you. It also makes you go "so what's this? Eminem? Kriss-Kross? Wham!?" And weren't we treated to quite a bit of that by the artist formerly known as "My name is Prince and I am funky?" "Maybe...," I thought, "this is a KMFDM side project" (yes, it's true, some darker bands too are known for singing about themselves). So yeah, I was worried. But not for long.
All joking aside, a minute or two into the first track it became pretty clear that Destination: Oblivion is a talent. And not just your run-of-the-mill, one-sided repetitive synthpop talent. They are diverse. They incorporate the heavy, crunching guitars that the electro-industrial scene has been lacking (and screaming for!) these past few years. They pull back with some subtle, more reflective melodic tracks, and then delve head-first into dirty, grungy guitar-driven mayhem once again. They incorporate simple, yet insightful (and somewhat humorous) lyrics. They aren't afraid to pay tribute to their influences - and when I say influences, I'm guessing Navratil & Co. listened to a bit of NIN in their day? And they aren't afraid to rock.
The lengths of the tracks as well as the moods they convey are extremely varied on this disc, which provides the listener some refreshing variety. The second track, "The Flow," for example, is a brief, 2-minute romp of unadulterated guitar-driven industrial beats, that flow somehow seamlessly into the atmospheric, down-tempo melancholy of "Waiting for the Storm," punctuated by eerily lull of piano keys. Track 4, "Desensitize," more than adequately showcases the band's Metal edge, while songs such as "Last Stop" hint at Destination: Oblivion's more melodic capabilities.
There are quite a few tracks on this disc and it's honestly difficult to keep them all straight the way they all spill over into the next (whether that's a drawback or not depends on the listener). Tracks 6-8 are welded together in such a way that they play out as sort of a 3-part epic - whether or not this was the band's intent. Track 6, "Shell," comes on strong and doesn't pull its guitar-heavy feedback-laden punch for a minute before fading effortlessly into the slower-paced, swampy angst of the 11-minute, "Buried", which is an epic in itself that toward its end features my favorite lyrics clip of the CD: "A society of hate... breeds... a society of hate... breeds... a society of hate..." You get the picture. Not reinventing the lyrical wheel of course, but a cool quip nonetheless. The end of "Buried" soon becomes obscured by the beginning of "Tendencies," a pleasant and appetizing composition of hatching maggots, decaying corpses and shit-circling flies, which you probably wouldn't want to play for your mom.
"Claiming Victim" is probably the most obviously Nine Inch Nails influenced track here (and I'm talking early NIN). Understated in its simplicity, "Claiming Victim," at its core, is not much more than a simple piano tune over a deep droning bass, accented by the breathy vocals of a singer who's obviously got a bone to pick with someone. The simplicity may have something to do with why I like it, but I'm quite sure the lyrics did. I couldn't help cracking a smile or two at "They'll all die in their ignorance. They'll all die in their stupid fucking ignorance..." I mean shit how many times a day do you look around at the world and can't help but think THAT... someone should've put it to music sooner. Or maybe it's just me...
Probably my favorite song on the CD is "Our God Greed." It's catchy as hell and probably the most likely club hit this CD's gonna have if it has one at all. I was a little disappointed by the total loss of momentum around the 4th minute, after which the song abruptly switches gears and becomes 4 minutes of some experimental/noise endeavor - but who cares, that's what editing's for. I loved the incorporation of "We can't close our eyes all night. We may wake up changed." from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Nice touch.
All in all, I think this is an incredibly strong debut effort, which doesn't sound amateur in the least. I think Destination: Oblivion has some room for improvement, but then what band doesn't? The vocals at times come off a bit dispassionate and "recited," but it certainly doesn't detract from the overall triumph of this album. I'm hoping that "Thirteen Beginnings to the End" doesn't suggest that Track 13 is the end for this up and coming Portland-based act, because I'm looking forward to hearing what they come up with next. And in the meantime, I'd highly recommend that industrial-metal fans get out there and buy this one for their collection. I'd even suggest paying full-price.
Tracks:
1. destination
2. the flow
3. waiting for the storm
4. desensitize
5. lies
6. shell
7. buried
8. tendencies
9. claiming victim
10. our god greed
11. hope
12. last stop
13. wormhole
Artist Website:
<http://www.DestinationOblivion.net>
12/16/03
- Starvox

Industro-metal of the mid 90’s variety. With only 4 tracks on this disc it’s hard to really say what this band actually sounds like, but these 4 tracks seem to point in that vein. Big synthetic beats, with screechy guitars and shouted angry vocals. The lyrics reminded me a lot of Cop Shot Cop, with it’s anti-establishment message fully in your face. The music is violent with out being obtrusive, and much like bands such as RevCo, Evil Mothers and the like. I expect more good things from this Portland, OR group. (Destination Oblivion),Hahn - Voxpopzine

Leave it to Portland Or. Destination Oblivion will take you to the (Godflesh, NIN, Manson) style of industrial metal. This band formed in 99, launched a 4 song EP called Awakening which was continued to a full length called "Thirteen beginnings to the End" sitting right before us. The way to describe this offering (12 songs, if you can't tell by the name of the CD) is a buffet of instruments. Its like, How do you want the Bass? Clean, klunky, fuzzy, slow, fast? It's all there. Guitars, fuzzy power chords, choppy, clean, complex, simple, how do you want it? Drum machine, Acoustic, loops, layered, up its there too. Vocals, let's see, Clean, fuzzy, both, layered, screaming, torture, pain? Yup, found that too. You must listen a couple of times to take it all in but it will sink in. Now take all the above with effects of keys, synths, sound clips of screaming women, people talking and more crazy shit and you have the structure to build the band Destination Oblivion. Now all we need is a tooth pick. The lyrics are very emotional, emotionally fucked up, very intense taking you through a dark path of meanings. You must lit it up, pop this in and listen. Industrial metal from the underground. A very different offering from Destination Oblivion. Eat up and enjoy. Check out www.destinationoblivion.net. - Heavy Times Magazine

Track Listing: Our God Greed:Questionable Abyss Remix, Lies:Amputee Mix, The Haunted, Buried Alive, Shock*13, Cauterize, Desensitize:Catholic Mix, Wormhole:Orchestral Reconstruction.
I am not the world’s biggest club-mix techno fan, but I like this album. It is disturbing in complex ways and a lot more than shake-your-ass dance music; sort of an audio examination of the seven deadly sins. They somehow slip a hell-Mickey into the punch that leaves the reveler unsure of what went on while they were tranced out... but quite certain it was dirty. Danceable and deep... music for both ends of your carcass. And oh yeah... don’t mind the date-rape; you liked it.
For more information, check out www.destinationoblivion.net. (Review by AF) Andrew Fenner - Morbid Outlook

All right. It look like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Only one more CD to go. So, let's take a trip out to Portland, Oregon to see what that coast is cooking up. Without further delay, I give you Destination Oblivion.

The disc opens up with the track "Destination" that, in my humble opinion, sets the whole tone for the rest of the CD. In a Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails way, Destination Oblivion creates a wall of electronic noises, ripping guitar riffs, and heavy back beats that make you feel like your going to explode at any minute. The sound of the music if you can't already guess is heavily industrial and noisy in an industrial kind of way. However, in parts, they play with a little more punk and gothic leanings that resembled something like Marilyn Manson. One thing that was a little draining about the CD was not the grinding guitars or growling vocal, but was the fact that this 13 track CD lasted almost 73 minutes...it's a little too long for my liking. They could have made their point with a few less songs.

Overall, I thought it was pretty good but not that great. If you like the heavy industrial, Ministry-esque sound, then this will be a good buy for you. Until Next Week.

- Bill Schlitz
- Enigma