Local Review: Hibernaut — Obsidian Eye

Hibernaut
Obsidian Eye
Olde Magick Records, Hibernaut
Street: 07.11.2025
Hibernaut = Sleep + High-on-Fire

Bestowing upon us their second studio album, Obsidian Eye, local metal band Hibernaut has emerged once again with the ability to skillfully blend psychedelic, doom and sludge notes into their sound. 

As stated on their Bandcamp, Obsidian Eye explores the question: “Who decides when to die?” This question is brought to light during their last song on the album, “Beset.” Dave Jones, on guitar and vocals, has mastered the skill of hypnotism while telling the story of resurrection and anxious thoughts of the unknown — just a few of the themes explored in this album. 

“Engorge Behemoth” metaphorically describes something powerful and large greedily being filled in excessiveness. As our first introduction to the album, this song starts us off with Matt Miller’s mystical shredding as Hibernaut’s unique twist of psych and doom is backed up by Josh Dupree‘s resonant bass, enhanced by Zach Hatsis‘ steezy percussion.

The band’s albums, Ingress and Obsidian Eye, seem to follow similar themes of life, death, resurrection and fear of the unknown. They are considerably different in sound. While Ingress has similar qualities to Electric Wizard and Sleep, with more doom, stoner metal qualities, Hibernaut’s ability to fearlessly dive more into psych and electro while intertwining with their roots of doom is bewitching. 

As we progress into the album, “Venatic Rite” is full of intensity and panic accompanied by heavy distortion and fuzz and ritualistic chants. Jones tells the tale of a hunter and their willingness to provide; the game ends with a karmic fate as the symptoms of a “pyretic bite” fill the hunter with sickness and infection. 

With a smooth transition from into “Pestiferous,” the ballad continues with a speedy guitar solo accompanied by Hatsis’ punchy drums. Each beat is symbolic of suffering and pain as vengeful shouts carry on the story of how the hunter now harbours the infection until the darkness consumes them. 

Hibernaut’s storytelling continuity is strong. You can almost visualize the scene unfolding in front of you with Jones’ unforgiving vocals and the band’s melodies laced with heavy grooviness, making this album stand out from other sludge and doom metal albums. 

“Revenants” has to be a top favorite of this album — it has a flair for the dramatic as it starts with a heavy, slow-tempo climax. But don’t be fooled, this song is just as rageful and filled with psychedelia. One thing that stood out to me is the hypnotic sounds created by the combination of bass, guitars and percussion. This song was filthy and raw. 

I digress, Hibernaut’s sound is a force to be reckoned with; they are brutal but gentle, full of grief and hope — the essence of light and dark. As a listener, I am enthralled by their scale of harmonics and attention to detail. With roots from the former prominent band SubRosa, Hibernaut’s evolution in metal is transcendent. Obsidian Eye is available on streaming platforms and is sure to leave you with a desire for more. —Litzi Estrada 

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