Omnium Gatherum-Beyond review

Let me apologize for the lull in activity here at ThinkMuzik.  The last weeks have been very dull in terms of new music.  We haven't been receiving any updates we feel to be noteworthy.  Rest assured, however, there is some good stuff coming so stay tuned.

One great update we did receive today: Omnium Gatherum is now streaming their upcoming album "Beyond" in full.  You can listen to the music here.

"Beyond" feels much less like a follow-up to "New World Shadows" than anticipated.  By all means, "New World Shadows" was a fantastic album, further exploring ideas and sounds hinted at in "The Red Shift".  The result was a more polished, fuller sounding record that was, in my opinion, the best album to date in the Omnium Gatherum discography.  Now that I have had a chance to listen to "Beyond", I can say that the new release is just as good as, if not better than its predecessor.

This album starts out with an atmospheric guitar intro that steadily builds in intensity towards the end.  This leads perfectly into the explosion of metallic riffing and growling vocals that are featured prominently in the second track.  These songs manage to keep the Omnium Gatherum vibe I have come to love over the years even while ratcheting up the atmospheric keyboard and synth qualities yet another notch.  This illustrates why the band has so quickly become one of my favorite metal bands. 

"Beyond" reaches near perfect marks from me, but for a perceived misstep or two near the end of the album.  Two of the final five tracks seemed like a regression of sorts, hearkening back to the "Red Shift" era which, to be honest, included some great tunes.  This late-album change of pace seems to subtly undermine the charging tempo of doom-laden keyboard melodies and memorable guitar leads present throughout most of the album.  This is only a very slight gripe.  Whatever tenacity was lost with those few stripped-down efforts, Omnium Gatherum make up for in the over ten-minute epic closer that is Omnium Gatherum at their very best.

The vocals on this album are diverse enough to be entertaining.  Some low-register spoken word sections enhance the foreboding atmosphere present within the music.  Could Say is the only track to incorporate clean vocals like those found sparingly during "New World Shadows".  The cleans make up the majority of the verses, while beastly growls return to prominence during chorus and bridge sections.  This is one of the best songs on the album.

As on "New World Shadows", Don Swano is behind the production here.  Swano is in my opinion the best metal producer in Europe.  In this album, it quickly becomes evident that his skill has only increased.

A lot of Finnish bands create great melodic metal music and Omnium Gatherum has risen to the very top of an already rich crop, which includes masters Amorphis and Insomnium.  "Beyond" is an epic album, and perhaps the best yet in Omnium Gatherum's six LPs and one EP.  Check out the damage here and be sure to listen to Could Say.  As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Insomnium-One for Sorrow review

Having a diverse collection of metal music in one's collection allows for differing moods and differing tastes.  By its nature, metal music is a diverse genre and is growing ever more diversified.  New bands toy with new sounds, sometimes to varying effects.  Some bands find their niche sound and stick with it.

Finnish band Insomnium are of the latter category.  This band has been around for a long time and have released many good albums.  "Across the Dark" was an eye-opener, and "One for Sorrow" continues in this vein. 

Stylistically, this album is doom metal at heart, using many different keyboard and guitar based melodies to create a sorrowful, melancholic sound that is just as angry as it is sad.  The band overlays this tendency with vicious growling vocals almost continuously, leaving little room for clean vocals.  When these clean vocals appear, they are incredibly tasteful while retaining their metal edge. 

"One for Sorrow" begins and ends with complex melodies and mid-tempo rhythms.  These tempos vary throughout the album without the usual associated extreme highs and lows, that dominate so much doom metal.  Even through the sorrow, Insomnium manage to create catchy grooves and beautiful melodies often enough to capture interest throughout the disc.  As expected, keyboards are a large part of the Insomnium sound, as are the low, growling vocals.  This music is easy to listen to for fans of metal.  It should appeal to fans of doom, melodic death metal, and progressive metal. 

Many bands compare to Insomnium, but Insomnium pioneered the perfect blend between chunky melodeath and over-the-top doom.  This record is very balanced and instantly catchy.  Give it a listen and you may be impressed.  If you are a fan of Insomnium or Be'lakor, pick this album up.  Having somewhat outgrown the melodeath genre, I was at first skeptical regarding whether I would like this new disc.  Now that I have listened to it in its entirety, I feel that it is very much worth recommending.  Thanks for listening and, as always, enjoy!

Be'lakor-Of Breath and Bone review

We now take a break from your regularly scheduled post-rock review to bring you some metal.  I often talk about metal here, but the problem lately has simply been a lack of interesting new metal releases to review.  This year has been surprisingly short on new metal that I like, as opposed to say 2010-when dozens of bands I enjoy released new music.

One of the standouts this year from the metal genre has been the brand new album from Australia's Be'lakor.  To get a feel for what this band truly sounds like, let me refer you to the more popular bringers of melodic, progressive doom metal Insomnium.  Be'lakor's sound is as close as you can get to being a carbon copy of the aforementioned band, but much more progressive in sound and structure. 

On this album, plentiful doom melodies populate the more prominent portions of the music while progressive keys and acoustic plucking fill out the sound scape.  What makes this band so interesting are the prominent doom passages filled with simplistic, soulful guitar leads that slowly build in tempo and intensity towards what you would call a climax in the music.  This band pulls off this interesting effect masterfully, never sounding too simple, but staying safely away from technical wankery.  These melodies are heartfelt and memorable

The vocals this band employ contrast with the doomier elements in that they are excessively harsh and guttural.  The style of vocals you hear with this band are mid-range growls that sound neither like black metal howling nor Cookie Monster grunts.  This singer can also hold notes with this vocal style as long as the music dictates, leading to a more interesting listening experience. 

There are many bands that play a similar style of metal to Be'lakor, but few who do it so well.  I compared them to Insomnium, but I actually enjoy this band more than I do Insomnium.  It is good enough to nod your head to, angry enough to sound appealing, and melodic enough to be memorable.  I found their previous release, "Stone's Reach" to be powerful.  "Of Breath and Bone" promises the same power, but show the band further refining their sound.  If you are into metal music, especially with harsh vocals, check out this album.  Listen below.  Thanks for listening!