The Obligatory - Cloudbursting


Bands from my home county of Cornwall are rarely ever taken seriously and they rarely ever get anywhere in the record industry and there is a good reason for that, as most bands from Cornwall are as original as putting presents under the Christmas tree.

Enter The Obligatory, a three piece who are releasing this, their first single "Cloudbursting", in January with all proceeds going directly to in support of Leukaemia Research. "Cloudbursting" itself is an alternative track that you originally feel will follow the technique of quiet verse and loud chorus but it isn't long until you realise that this won't be the case. The intro has a punk rock feel that evolves into a seemingly melodic collision of guitar distortion, this then makes way to the quiet first verse driven by a focus on the drumming and gravelly vocals. Once the first chorus hits and everything after ensues, you realise that you are involved in something that won't be easy to second guess and pigeon hole with the second verse initially sounding much akin guitar wise to The Mars Volta or even Battles. To top off the unpredictability, after the bridge solo which borders on a prog feel theres a complete change that sees the guitars dropping out in favour of just vocals and a bass drum only for "Cloudbursting" to slowly build back up into a Muse-esque riff.

It isn't all brilliance though, at times the production on the song sounds sloppy and some of the higher notes vocally initially grate. Also being nearly six minutes long, it is a bit too much at times and certain ideas could definitely have been shortened especially towards the end of "Cloudbursting".

All in all though, the overall reaction from me is a positive one and I'm eager to see what The Obligatory do next. Who would have thought it eh, a Cornish band who can play!

3 / 5