Album Review: Omnium Gatherum – Origin (Century Media Records)

Omnium Gatherum – OG for close friends – has been offering remarkable pieces of melodic death metal for already twenty-five shining years. While storming through these ferocious decades, Omnium Gatherum has convinced worldwide legions of heavy metal lovers by releasing unstoppable musical onslaughts and touring relentlessly all over the world.

Their latest offering is called Origin and it will be released on November 5th, 2021 via Century Media Records.

Always a source of fascinating music, Omnium Gatherum aren’t feeling their 25 years and exit 2021 with one of their finest albums to date. An album blending the classic OG old-school melo-death sound with their penchant for poppy touches and larger-than-life layering. Origin is a fascinating and detailed slice of what modern day Omnium Gatherum are capable of.

The instant hit of melody, immense chuggy riffing, epic soloing, chunky drumming and scathing vocals of Emergence gets things started in the best way possible. It’s an adrenaline boosting listen and tells you everything you need to know about Origin as a whole, as things go forward.

Talking of which, Prime and Paragon come next and provide all the head-banging melo-death brilliance anyone could be demanding. A one-two punch of exciting groove, pounding heaviness and choruses made of steel. This is the stuff that we all love about Omnium Gatherum and it’s such a pleasure to still hear them pushing their sound forward.

The rockier Reckoning stands out. A track that is all about the guitar. An impressive melee of riffing and soloing. Fortitude then changes tact for a darker and more sinister sound before Friction showcases a temperamental side to Omnium Gatherum. A peppier pace matched by an aggressive touch and balanced by the gargantuan, melodic and cleanly sung chorus. One of the best songs on the album.

Let’s be serious here though. Every single song here could be called the best track on the album. Such is the reliable brilliance of Origin and where Omnium Gatherum are at in 2021.

Just take a listen to Tempest and Unity. The former seems like a ‘paint by numbers’ melo-death listen but is layered with thrilling chugging rhythm, lighter melodies and outstanding grumbling lows. The latter highlighting some of this album’s most affecting and exclusively emotive melodies alongside the band’s innate ability to make everything feel so much bigger.

As if to hammer that point home, the finale of Solemn is near 9-minutes of stunning grandiosity and demanding melo-death heaviness. It’s one of the most epic tracks you’ll hear on this album but doesn’t overdo that aspect. Instead, it’s a finely composed showcase of everything that Omnium Gatherum do so well.

Omnium Gatherum – Origin Full Track Listing:

1. Emergence
2. Prime
3. Paragon
4. Reckoning
5. Fortitude
6. Friction
7. Tempest
8. Unity
9. Solemn

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