Review Summary: With The Redshift, Omnium Gatherum release their best effort to date.
Melodic Death Metal in recent years has gone through quite a fall in quality as nowadays the world is plagued by thousands of bands trying to emulate the same thing already done by their three idols (
In Flames,
Dark Tranquillity and
At The Gates).Not even coming close to them, their music is raping the once good name of the genre.
Fortunately some bands out there still have it in them to hold their own, being apart of the genre but still making music that is of the quality wanted. Bands such as
Insomnium,
Hypocrisy and
Amon Amarth may come to mind. In my books, Omnium Gatherum is another one of these bands. The band hails from Finland and has put out 4 studio albums to date,
The Redshift being their latest and best.
The band is:
Jukka Pelkonen - Vocals
Markus Vanhala - Guitars
Harri Pikka - Guitars
Toni Mäki - Bass
Aapo Koivisto - Synth
Jarmo Pikka - Drums
The band combines melodic death riffs with some keys, your usual growls and some clean vocals and whispers. Sounds average, right? Well that maybe to some but for someone as frustrated with the new crop (of melodic death bands) as I am, this was a breath of fresh air.
One of the main problems with today’s melodeath bands is the bland guitar works and so I’m here to tell you that, that problem hasn’t been completely solved on this album. The guitar works are probably the best Vanhala and Pikka have put out but that isn’t saying much. Apart from a few solos most people may find them boring and generic. True, they may get boring at times but they have their moments and do bring about a certain balance to the music along with the other instruments. The drum works show a bit of hard rock influence and are quite simple but they do their job in helping the music flow along the course of the album. Jarmo Pikka whom I can only presume is the brother of guitarist Harri Pikka, provides an average performance.
Although not really bad, the drums and guitars are probably the only negative side the album has but they compensate for them with some great bass, vocal and keyboard work.
The bass in most melodic death bands isn’t all that noticeable but Maki unlike others has the ability make his work shine such as, his strong performance in the song
Greeneyes and the smoothness he provides to the instrumental
Song for December.
The keyboard works aren’t overdone but they are used enough to make the experience enjoyable, usually working as a backup to the lead guitars as seen in songs like
A Shadowkey and
The Return. As for the vocals, Jukka Pelkonen’s been with the band for 2 albums and his performance on the last album was quite average compared to what he applies here. Pelkonen not only provides his greatly improved growls but also adds clean singing to some songs which are really great and adds to the atmosphere of the songs and unlike some other melodeath bands they aren’t overused.
The variety between the songs is also a good point as you have your fast paced melodeath songs (
The Redshifter) , a few with a bit more melody (
A Shadowkey) and even some songs which give off a sad vibe (
Greeneyes).Another factor which makes the album so good to listen to is the production quality and for that Omnium Gatherum have Dan Swano to thank as he applied his mixing and mastering skills to the album.
So the thing about the album is that you might not like it if you listen to the songs individually but if you listen to it as a whole, it’s quite simply brilliant. No one member shines on his own but the team work allows the instruments to gel perfectly leaving you with some very awesome melodic death.
Recommended Tracks:
Nail (the best song on the album, awesome chorus)
The Redshifter
Distant Light Highway
Song for December
"...And Finally We Understand'
