Omnium Gatherum - 'New Dynamic' Teaser Track

I almost wet myself with excitement when Finnish melodic death metal band Omnium Gatherum announced that they’d be releasing a teaser track from their new album. Published on Lifeforce Records’ official YouTube page on the 8^th January, ‘New Dynamic’ has more than whetted Omnium Gatherum’s fanbase’s appetite.

 

 

                It’s felt like a long time since Omnium Gatherum released New World Shadows in 2011. The album was a perfect step up from their previous, The Redshift, released via Candlelight Records in 2008. The album was almost faultless and took the listener on a journey of perfectly-lengthened, brilliantly progressive and epically powerful songs, laced with complex yet easily listenable melodies, virtuoso solos, massive cleans and powerful, evocative growls, to a melodic and musical highpoint that very few bands will ever reach. But perhaps at one or two points in the album the material felt a little stretched, perhaps the Finns seemed to be running short on an idea or two for a few seconds of their otherwise faultless songs.

                ‘New Dynamic’ falls foul to none of these. As soon as the YouTube video finishes loading the song’s boundless energy begins to become apparent. Markus Vanhala’s guitar-wizard skills begin to shine through immediately in the first upbeat, pacey, tapped riff. The song then builds, introducing crunchy, pounding guitars and drums before kicking into the first verse, where Jukka Pelkonen’s deep growls add more to the energy and bound of the song. They then replay this idea, almost tauntingly, and allowing it to build further and further, getting more and more energetic. Finally, the band kicks into an epic chorus where they display their melodic ingenuity with a perfectly fitting guitar melodic line.

                The song continues to progress, building more and more, focus on the guitars (as it is with most melodic death metal) and tantalizing tapping brilliant sliding, as the stringed-members expertly navigate their instruments.

                And then the clean vocals. Used to perfect effect on their last album’s titular track, the wonderfully harmonised male chorus appears again, perfectly carrying the song’s epic musical stride further forward, before gently setting it down to slowly calm and sadly end.

                The song seems to have taken on board everything the band did right in the last album and develop it, becoming more confident in their structure and sound. Perhaps the only criticism offered is the song can’t help but perhaps feel a little safe. Maybe it’s a little too close to generic melodic death metal themes to be a truly radical and brilliantly depictive song that showcases everything that Omnium Gatherum are capable of. But nonetheless, it comes damn close.

                Overall: 8.5/10