Pennsylvania based Crobot has been a regular face in the hard/stoner rock scenes for the better part of thirteen years, and while they’ve never gained quite as much traction as the likes of Clutch or CKY the group has maintained a dedicated fanbase over the course of their career. Each of their full lengths has taken the crunchier riffing and harder edge and taken it in different directions, sometimes moving fully over to blues rock while other times bringing in a psychedelic and even funkier slant. After their former label Wind-Up Records ceased operations Crobot put out two albums on Mascot Records in 2019 and 2022, but instead of simply re-signing and continuing the standard cycle they’ve opted to go independent for their fifth full length Obsidian. With this in mind, it makes sense that Obsidian comes across as even more energetic and diverse than its predecessor, and it finds Crobot heading into even heavier territory than before.
The title track kicks things off and makes it clear that Obsidian is going to be a different experience than 2022’s Feel This. From the first few seconds you’re hit with a heavier, crunchy guitar and bass tone alongside pounding drums where you feel each thump of the bass drum. Where some of Crobot’s previous material had a retro hard rock vibe and emphasized high energy leads and melodies, here there’s a bit more 90s and 2000s stoner and hard rock sound, and there are even times where they head into metal territory. That’s not to say that this is a full shift over to sludge, stoner metal, or anything to that degree, but there’s a noticeably heavier slant to the tonality and intensity of the performances on Obsidian. It’s appropriate than that around the halfway point the band has named one of their songs “Metal”, where they whip up the tempo into almost thrash territory and double down on the scorching guitar work. But this emphasis on heavier, scorching riffs and a metallic sheen doesn’t mean that Crobot has lost the diversity in their songwriting either, as almost every track has something a bit different to offer. Whether it’s songs like “Ancient Druid Crown” that give off a Deliverance era Corrosion of Conformity vibe, the Alice in Chains feel of “Head of the Beast”, or the warmness of closer “Happiness” there’s a lot of variety throughout Obsidian. There are plenty of hooks from beginning to end, and while I was drawn to songs like “Disappear”, “Ancient Druid Crown”, and “Head of the Beast” there was still plenty of reason to listen to this album all the way through. A few of the longer tracks do feel just a tad overstretched, but this is a minor criticism on an otherwise strong showing.
Vocalist Brandon Yeagle has been one of the reasons Crobot has stood out over the years, as he helps to bring that soaring energy that towers above the rest of the band. He’s showcased across their discography quite a bit of range, from lower croons to soaring higher pitched singing that soars into the clouds. With Obsidian’s emphasis on denser, bottom-heavy instrumentation he gives a mixture of both throughout the material and tracks like “Come Down” find him adopting pitches that wouldn’t sound out of place on a 90’s grunge album. On the other end of the spectrum, “From the Ground” sticks towards the higher, airier ranges and has more of a blues/stoner rock vibe that keeps you entranced for its entirety. “Happiness” also showcases what Yeagle can do on the softer end of the spectrum, and the way he seamlessly moves between these pitches makes the vocal performance just as exciting as the instrumentation. For rock bands like Crobot great singers make all the difference, and Yeagle continues to live up to the task.
Crobot has explored different sides of hard rock over the course of their career, but they’ve returned with their heaviest and most metallic sounding effort yet. Coming in closer to stoner rock/metal, hard rock and grunge but still retaining some of the blues rock and melodic flourishes from their past, Obsidian has naturally expanded the band’s sound while keeping an emphasis on strong instrumental and vocal hooks. This is one of those releases that will likely draw in just as many metalheads as those that typically say within the rock space, and a decade plus in it’s exciting to see Crobot trying different ideas rather than falling back to the same old sound.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg