Three studio albums into a very colourful career, Ne Obliviscaris have reached the pinnacle of their creative output in their new album Urn. “Each album has grown and grown.” Says vocalist Xenoyr. “With this one, the reception has been really positive, especially in overseas markets.

“It’s different in how the production has hanged, a lot of people have commented on that. We wanted something that represented more of our live sound. A lot of people have asked why we sound heavier live than on our CDs, and we’ve tried to replicate that.”

This particular release has a fair density split duality of sound Urn, on the live stage, was written for the live stage. “For me,” Xen begins, “This tracks feel a lot more natural to play live.” Some of the darkest songs Ne Obliviscaris have ever written, Xen says he can relate to the song’s context a lot more and therefore, is able to relay the album’s true meanings in a much more authentic way – all the better for their upcoming Australian tour.

“When I write the lyrics, with the dark stuff we were going through, there’s a dark undertone through the whole album, reflective of the time we were writing it,” Xen says, musing. “The lyrical content has some relation to that – a lot of the time I’m on stage I’m in another world anyway, so when I’m feeling the lyrics, they actually mean something to me and that’s most important.”

Ne Obliviscaris’ talent for song writing combined with their powerful performances are the aspects fans will most look forward to about the tour. “There’s a whole new energy to our shows now we have a new bassist,” says Xen.

With only the limits of their own imagination to compete with, it will certainly be interesting to see how Ne Obliviscaris manage to outdo themselves on the next album. “When we write, we write for ourselves. It’s not a conscious thought to try and outdo ourselves, it’s where we are at that point in time.

“Writing the material, the music comes to s in terms of what we’re trying to do – if we set ourselves a goal of trying to outdo ourselves, we’ll probably shoot ourselves in the foot. Just writing music for the love of music is what comes first.”