Melodic Death Metal
Century Media
Release date – June 2nd 2023
Line Up:
Jukka Pelkonen – Vocals
Markus Vanhala – Guitar/Clean Vocals
Nick Cordle – Guitar
Nikko Kivisto – Bass/Clean Vocals
Atte Pesonen – Drums
Aapo Koivisto – keyboards
Tracklist:
1 – Slasher
2 – Maniac (Michael Sembello Cover)
3 – Sacred
4 – Lovelorn
Finnish Melodic Death Metal Maestro’s Omnium Gatherum have been at the top of the game for 27 years and have consistently released product over that time. Here they give us a four song EP that introduces former Arch Enemy guitarist Nick Cordle into their ranks.
‘Slasher’ starts with a wash of keyboards before the band jump in with a rattling metal romp crushing guitars and the keyboards offering the melody before the breakdown and the clean vocals come in. Vanhala and Cordle play off each other superbly with some beautiful lines and stunning solos. A total surprise is ‘Maniac’ – once the track started, I thought it sounded familiar – a cover of Michael Sembello’s 1983 pop hit which was originally on the ‘Flashdance’ movie soundtrack. It’s given the full DM treatment, but you still can’t help singing along. It got me thinking what other songs could be given the Death Metal kick. ‘Sacred’ is another melodic death metal gem – almost pop metal on the intro then they put the pedal down and keyboard player Koivisto weaves his synths around the chugging riff then the even more melodic ‘Lovelorn’ could be a pop hit with if it had clean vocals – I like it without, but the possibility is there. It’s fairly simple and dark but ever so catchy with an almost Def Leppard feel at times.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, their use of melody is outstanding along with the death metal vocals makes it really interesting and it’s over far too soon. It just proves that anything is possible, and any musical genres can be put together successfully.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 8/10
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