German prog/technical death metal outfit Obscura is facing allegations of having plagiarized whole sections of their latest single “Evenfall” off their forthcoming album A Sonication just days after its release earlier this week. The accusations against the band were made public in an Instagram post by Max Phelps, in which he claimed nearly half of the new song was lifted from an arrangement from his band Exist.
In his post, which you can read below, Phelps lays out the extent of the alleged plagiarism. According to him, the parts in question were written by ex-Obscura and Exist bassist Alex Weber. The parts that made it into “Evenfall,” Phelps alleges, “goes beyond the melody”. He even goes so far as to provide exact timestamps where the allegedly stolen music can be heard.
In his statement, Phelps said the alleged stolen music in question wasn’t approved for Obscura guitarist/vocalist Steffen Kummerer to use in the aforementioned single. Phelps also alleges that Kummerer is actively downplaying the potential plagiarism.
“I have never wanted to make a post like this, but I’ve got to back up my brother on it…the new Obscura song is stolen.
“Alex brought the parts in question to the table a while ago and we had currently been working them into an Exist arrangement, so I’m personally very familiar with them. I would even argue that Alex undermined the extent of the plagiarism in his wording…it goes beyond the melody to the rhythmic ideas and development whenever that melody occurs. It’s not just the bassline, it’s the guitars and drum line as well.
“Here are the parts that are plagiarized.
0:00 – 1:15
2:14 – 2:34
4:49 – 5:35“That’s 2.5 minutes of a 5.5 minute song.
“These were not Steffen’s to use and now he’s trying to blow Alex off by claiming that he ‘changed them dramatically’. He didn’t…it’s not even remotely subjective and there are copyright violations all the time over musical ideas that are far bigger stretches.
“I do want to clarify that Steffen has been a good friend of mine for years and has done a lot of solids for Alex, myself and Exist including taking us on tour even when our band really didn’t have much traction. Neither of us take this for granted, which unfortunately makes this even more of a heel turn and a huge disappointment.
“If Alex still wants to use the riffs then we still will use them and there’s nothing Steffen can do because they are legally not his or his record label’s intellectual property.
“On a side note, Robin Zielhorst is awesome and I feel bad if he and the other new dudes are getting tangled in this.”
Alex Weber also posted about the situation two days ago on his Facebook page. In the post, he shared a video directly showcasing the alleged plagiarism. It shows his composition playing alongside “Evenfall.” Additionally, he offered the following statement on the matter:
“I was REALLY hoping it wouldn’t come to this… I’m not one to create drama and stir the pot unnecessarily but I’m sad to hear that the new Obscura tune contains melodies that I wrote and melodies that I did not give Steffen permission to use. Before we all left the band we got written confirmation that the material we contributed to the record would not be used but this video shows clearly that my melody was used note for note.
“It would have been one thing if I was credited for this or had given him written permission to use it, but that was not the case. It’s not about money or even being that attached to the melody, it’s a matter of principle and intellectual property theft.
“I know because of deadlines, that Steffen was in a tough position when we all left the band but now i’m concerned that more of the music that Chris and I wrote for this album will still be used without our consent.
“I’m always more for going the compassionate route but I don’t appreciate how this situation has been dealt with. It’s NOT ok to use someone else’s music regardless of how much or how little was used, especially without credit.”
We have reached out to Obscura’s representation at Nuclear Blast for comment on the matter. When we hear back, we will update this post.
