Review Summary: Moonspell has always been a juggernaut in the Gothic-Black metal realm, but needles to say they can pull off non-extreme music, and Omega White only amplifies that statement.
As the notes go for
Omega White, it's part of the double release this year alongside with their respectable sister album,
Alpha Noir. While
Alpha Noir is an onslaught of Moonspell's style of Gothic Black metal (with all do respect, Trey Spencer's review covers that pretty well).
Omega White is a complete 180 to more of a modern day Goth Rock album that is purely dedicated to The Sisters of Mercy and Type O Negative (as stated by the band). Well, Moonspell has been quiet for about four years since their last effort. Yet, they somehow manage to pull it off with a double album, considering double albums can be a mix bag of whether one album(or disc(it depends)) is better then the other. Another factor that can be attributed to any double album is that they can either be in different styles compared to one another, or they're simply both in the same style. In this case Moonspell hits a bulls-eye with a double album that differs in style, both musically and atmospherically.
Throughout
Omega White the entire album we see Moonspell show that they are capable of doing more with their musical career then just being centered around metal. From the get-go the opening track itself is a prelude of what the entire album sounds like: acoustic chords blended in with any possible combination with the other instruments and vocals, atmospheric guitar hooks that catch the listener's attention immediately, very melancholic vocal melodies, interesting drum patterns, the list keeps going on and on. Yet, the album shows some sort of inconsistency by eluding from the majority of the tone with songs like “Whites Skies”, while it's not a bad song, it's actually one of the better ones, but hey it's the lead single off of
Omega White it's bound to have that 'poppy' sound to it all. While the first two songs completely differ from each other all together in overall vibe and atmosphere, we see the album pick itself back off where it started after “White Skies”. Except there's a twist with the two proceeding songs that blend the 'poppy' sounding “White Skies” to the more darker sounding “Whiteomega”, with an overall mellow tone that builds up after one another leading up to the heaviest song off of the album, “Herodisiac”. Another notable song follows right after “Herodisiac” entitled “Incantatrix”, which is a power-ballad that truly is amazing and quite beautiful, in a way it almost reminds me of Katatonia's “Idle the Blood”. But with a great album you have to have a great album closer, am I not right? Enters “A Greater Darkness”, a song that truly captivates the listener with the overall tone I've been talking about throughout the entire review - everything about the song is awesome; a must listen for sure.
Even if
Omega White is part of a double album and showcases a different animal musically compared to everything else they've done as a whole. Moonspell still releases another solid album into their catalog of great albums, and I highly recommend
Omega White to anyone, as well as their sister album
Alpha Noir. As a little speculation goes - I wouldn't be too surprised if Moonspell shifted their sound to what this album presents if they decide to shift away from their metal roots.
