Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

As long as you’re not a teeny pop artist, what better way to start and end an album than with nine minute songs. This is exactly how the new OMNIUM GATHERUM album "New World Shadows" plays out. The album offers a unique interpretation of what heavy metal can be, and they pull it off very well. This band is yet another reason that I love Finland and their metal-friendly culture.
The first track, “Everfields”, offers up exactly what a typical metal song is not. The vocals performed by Jukka Pelkonen remain heavy and thick while the music takes multiple twists and turns from quick double bass patterns, to clean keyboard parts, to soaring guitar leads – all while keeping the heavy vocals on top of them. There is so much emotion pouring from this song ranging from the folk sounding percussive breakdowns to the truly heavy, heavy parts.
In addition to having epic compositions, OMNIUM GATHERUM also know how to break your face with good old fashioned heavy metal. Tracks like “Ego” and “Nova Flame” have the tearing guitar riffs that bond all forms of metal. Guitar player Markus Vanhala offers up an array of crushing riffs as well as melodic leads that will melt your ears.
A track worth noting for its uniqueness is “An Infinite Mind” which has it all from heavy guitars, to effect laden verses, and more mainstream sounding parts all while maintaining a solid dose of heaviness. The vocals compliment the music so well with the signature thick growls to whispered layers on top of the music. The hook in this song is certainly the interesting guitar work that will leave you coming back for seconds.
"New World Shadows" by OMNIUM GATHERUM is a very diverse, epic, and hard hitting album that takes the listener through multiple auditory landscapes. There are elements of several different metal genres which will intrigue listeners of all metal sounds. The guitar work is especially impressive as it does not stick to any particular sound in metal. While still having a cohesive sound, Vanhala uses his axe to pummel your head and serenade you to sleep at the same time. This album is a very solid effort that is surely to recruit new fans and keep old fans happy. (8.5/10)

Devin Walsh

Band info: www.myspace.com/omniumgatherum
Label info: www.lifeforcerecords.com
For fans of: Opeth, Katatonia, In Flames