Album Review: Omnium Gatherum - The Burning Cold

Death metal. I listen to very little of it, because it and I have a philosophical disagreement. I love music for the melody of it, while death metal loves the pain of pounding the listener into mental oblivion. The two are very different approaches to what music is supposed to be, and finding a common ground is not easy. That's where melodic death metal comes into play. It tries to be the bridge between brutal and beautiful, and every so often it manages to achieve that. Opeh had great moments, Be'lakor has done good work, and of course there is "Moontower", the single greatest album ever recorded with harsh vocals.

Omnium Gatherum falls into the same category, and while I cannot claim to be a huge fan of theirs, I have enjoyed some of their material in the past. They understand that death metal can have melody and beauty, while only serves to enhance the ugliness under the surface. It's more nuanced, and to me more effective, than simply playing as loud and as hard as you possibly can at all times.

That is well illustrated by "Refining Fire", where you get ringing chords, guitar harmonies, and an attempt to make the vocals as melodic as a growl can be in the chorus. Sure, there are also a few technical runs, and the song pounds along, but the core of the track is focused on creating a memorable statement. That is hard to do with death metal, and even the melodic death metal bands I come across can only do it a fraction of the time. Omnium Gatherum manages to do it more often than most. They build songs that are big and burly, while still graceful and elegant. 'Pure' metal fans might not like that, but it makes for a heck of a lot more interesting experience than your traditional "songwriting means putting a title on our boring growling" death metal.

What is a bit difficult here is trying to talk about Omnium Gatherum's music at any length, because they are remarkably consistent, which makes it hard to single out moments to either highlight or criticise. The details change, but the approach doesn't, which doesn't lend to deep analysis. Then there's the fact that harsh vocals of any kind obscure both the melody and the lyrics, so it's impossible to discuss the song's meanings either.

What I'm saying is that "The Burning Cold" is a very good melodic death metal album, but it's also a record that doesn't leave me a lot to say. Basically, if you've heard them before, you know what you're getting from this new record. They are top-notch at what they do, and this record continues on their path without fail. Sometimes, there isn't a lot new to talk about, so all I can do is reiterate that if you like melodic death metal, few do it better than Omnium Gatherum. If even I like it, that must mean something.