An innovative heavy metal group from the Bavarian town of Landshut, Germany, Obscura employ a heady and jarring blend of technical death metal and progressive thrash that drew accolades with the release of their 2006 debut album, Retribution. Featuring a rotating cast of virtuoso players, guitarist and vocalist Steffan Kummerer (known for his custom-shaped, seven-string Ran guitar) is the group's sole constant member, and he has steered the black ship Obscura since its founding in 2002, issuing singular extreme metal outings like Omnivium (2011) and Diluvium (2018) that are as inventive as they are punishing. In 2021, after several lineup changes, the band issued A Valediction.