Hello RockStars! Today’s Artist of the Week is Progressive Deathcore band Within Oblivion!
Here’s their story in their own words, Enjoy!
All Photo’s Courtesy of Valucis Media.
Within Oblivion’s Current line-up is:
Ralph Servin (Vocalist)
Arthur Spear (Lead Guitarist)
Jalen Geaga (Rhythm Guitarist)
Jordan Gadsen (Bassist)
Nick Valdivia (Drummer)
VMS:
When did you start writing and performing your music, what’s your backstory.
Within Oblivion:
“Since our initial forming roughly two years ago, our band has seen a lot of change and growth. Our beginning phases consisted of quite a few alterations to the line up, as well as name changes, and even a genre change!
The band first came to fruition with guitarists Arthur Spear and Jalen Geaga, who had been experimenting in many musical projects and styles together prior to the band forming. Shortly after the band’s start date, bassist Jordan Gadsen had joined in addition to our previous drummer. Current drummer, Nick Valdivia, came into the picture soon after the previous drummer left the project, filling the much needed role perfectly. We underwent many vocalist auditions and short term commitments before our previous vocalist, Caleb Myers, joined the project and remained the band’s vocalist for the initial two releases. Now, upon Caleb’s departure from the band, we welcome our new front man and vocalist Ralph.
The band had been writing and prepping for almost two years before our initial release with ‘Unconscious’ on Oct. 31st, 2023, making sure we were happy with our songs, live performance, professionalism, and gear setup. The band just had our debut performance on June 30th at SinWave, where we headlined with Bears, Color in the Dark, The Forest, and Bury the Fear.”
VMS:
What artist or bands inspire you and your sound.
Within Oblivion:
“We have many inspirations when it comes to artists and bands. Our main three influences would be Chelsea Grin, Signs of the Swarm, Oceano and Spiritbox. We also gather a lot of ideas from various cinematic musicians and soundtracks within pop culture.”
VMS:
What’s your writing process and inspiration for your lyrics.
Within Oblivion:
“We start creating a new track by writing the guitar instrumentals, then we will move forward on the drums and bass, and finally follow through with the addition of vocals and added production. What we strive to do is have everyone included during the creative process. We want all of us collaborate as a team on every given piece of the music before a final version is created.
The inspiration behind our lyrics comes from the every day struggles we see individuals going through, often times fighting their battle silently. We want to explore and visualize the reason behind the suffering that many endure, and how someone is not alone in that struggle.”
VMS:
I love your songs “Erased”, and “Unconscious”. What is the inspiration or story behind these songs.
Within Oblivion:
“The song “Unconscious” focuses on a person who is trapped within their own bad habits and cannot escape the cycle. Their true personality is stored deep within their subconscious, and is doomed to watch from inside disconnected from reality, like they are running on autopilot. They begin to drag everyone down around them and burn their closest relationships, and the song takes the perspective of one of their previous friends.
“Erased” is a song that takes the perspective of an individual who is suicidal. They hate themselves with so much passion that they don’t just want to die, but they want to be completely erased from every timeline like they never even existed. Eventually they go through with it, and as they are being melted away they regret their decision and want to live. But at that point it is too late to go back and they wish to die yet again. However, this time it’s because they cannot bear the pain of death, not because they cannot bear the pain of life.
Our goal behind these two tracks was to try different styles and hone in our sound. Initially these songs were written in a Metalcore style, because when our project first formed that was our genre. After some deliberating, our genre was changed to Deathcore once Nick joined the band, and the songs were written again with similar concepts but in a darker tone. These tracks were really a big waypoint for our band to help better navigate our creative direction, and we are very pleased with how they came out. We are so grateful for everyone who has listened and shown them support!”
Listen to Within Oblivion on Spotify:
VMS:
Which local artist would you like to work with and why.
Within Oblivion:
“One of our dream artists we would love to work and perform with is the Las Vegas born band Ov Sulfur. To us, these guys are the hometown heroes who paved a path for other aspiring bands in Sin City. We love their vibe and message, and are heavily inspired by their achievements and image.
A great local artist, Annelida, is another group we look forward to working with. We played with them live at Sin Wave on August 8th for their album release show! Seeing this group continue to grow in both their fan base and professionalism is amazing, and with their upcoming album and tours, they serve as a great example to us for musical excellence.”
VMS:
What’s your overall theme or message of your music.
Within Oblivion:
“As a band, we love to explore the different ways in which we can push the boundaries of the human condition and come to an understanding regarding how we can overcome and grow from life experiences.
We wanted to address the day to day thoughts that we as people all have to face that some may not be able to put into words. We strive to be another voice for the lost and be a positive release for our listeners.”
VMS:
Do you have a favorite song that you like to perform.
Within Oblivion:
“As a group, we love performing all of our material. However, one of our unreleased songs, ‘The Abyss’, we feel is one of our favorites to perform. It is a piece that pushes everyone skill wise and has a good mix of groove, technicality, and cinematic appeal.”
VMS:
Do you have any crazy or interesting stories from working in the music scene.
Within Oblivion:
“With us being a relatively new band, we haven’t had many crazy or interesting experiences in the music scene specifically. However, we are looking forward to making many of these memories and sharing them with our fans.”
VMS:
What does the future hold for Within Oblivion.
Within Oblivion:
“We want to continue to evolve and grow as musicians and build an image that not only us, but our fans can get behind as well. We are continuing to work hard to stay in the right direction and keep pressing forward towards our goals. We’ve already made a lot of progress together within the short time that our music has been released, and that’s kept us eager and motivated for our future endeavors. We would like to spread the Vegas scene across the globe to elevate and inspire all of our friends, family, and fellow musicians in the local scene, as they have inspired us.
Currently, we are writing and recording an EP that is set to release early next year. This next step is very exciting, not only because we enjoy the creative process, but also because we are anticipating the reaction from our listeners.”
VMS:
What do you want your audience to feel and experience at one of your live shows.
Within Oblivion:
“Within Oblivion wants everyone to feel the same rush that we feel on stage playing for our fans. Our music is meant to be experienced by everybody and anybody. We don’t care who you are, what you like, or who like; all listeners should feel included and united under our music. When we play live, we want the audience to feel as though we are all going through our unique experiences and life struggles, but can come together as one to enjoy the show. As a group we want it to always be a cinematic experience, where audience members can feel the delivery, and not just the sound. Delivering with a true passion is a must, and we want that to bring the same energy and quality live that we have in the songs that we write.”
Vegas Music Scene Thoughts:
What I love and find fascinating about Deathcore in general is that it is a darker and more morbid tone than some heavy metal, which as someone who is all about morbid or dark imagery when it comes to Books, Music and Movies, it is absolutely no surprise that I find myself gravitating towards Deathcore and Within Oblivion as a band.
I respect the fact that Within Oblivion is not afraid to talk about issues that some might seem too sensitive or taboo in nature, but I personally believe it’s incredibly important to talk about topics like suicide, addiction and the personal internal hell that comes with those things. Talking about mental health issues is never a bad thing and I always respect bands who are not afraid to discuss these topics.
To me, it makes the musical experience of listening to their songs more personal, more real, I can really identify with what they are saying in these songs. As someone who has first hand seen loved ones go through their own personal struggles, I feel the emotions behind his singing and their music. Screaming is such a cathartic experience and I feel especially for this genre, it fits perfectly lyrically and musically with the emotions behind what they are saying in their music.
Musicianship wise I feel the energy, passion, raw emotion and drive all these men have in everything they do. With their thrash style tempos, electric guitar playing, commanding drums and their guttural growls, they have found an exciting and explosive sound, and compliment each other so beautifully in order to achieve that. I also encourage you to go see them live, they put on a killer show and let’s be honest, music like this is always 100% better (or more intense) in a live setting. I know they will blow you away and give you a one of a kind experience, so please go check them out! I’m genuinely excited for what the evolution of their music will be, this is truly an amazing start for an already incredibly strong and awesome band.
For More information about Within Oblivion please visit their website.
——–VMS