Metal Mind Productions have done a fabulous job here on the remaster of Finnish melodic death metal upstarts Omnium Gatherum's hot 2003 debut Spirits and August Light, throwing in their EP Steal the Light in as well as a few bonus tracks. Housed in a gorgeous digipack with a great booklet featuring photos, info on the band, and lyrics, this is one hell of a pick-up for the metal collector. If you have yet to dive into the world of Omnium Gatherum, the debut Spirits and August Light will be one hell of a findfor you. These guys combined crushing, often times technical riffs, with lush keyboards, raging rhythms, and gravelly death growls, creating a sound that at times approaches bands like Dark Tranquility, In Flames, Opeth, Edge of Sanity, Arch Enemy, Carcass, At the Gates, and Children of Bodom. For some, vocalist Antti Filppu's vocals might be an acquired taste, as he often sounds like he is gargling with broken glass, but his style perfectly fits these dramatic and powerful songs. Keyboards tend to give the tracks an epic sound, rounded out by the walls of bombastic guitar riffs and tasty fills. Highlights are many, but be on the lookout for crushers like "Son's Thoughts", "Writhen", "Cure A Wound", and "Deathwhite", all solid representations of what melodic death metal should sound like. If you like catchy guitar harmonies, look no further than the doomy death of "It Shines", a slower and more ponderous piece that sees Markus Vanhala & Harri Pikka weaving plenty of melodic lines around each other, supported by crushing riffs, pounding rhythms, and Flippu's tortured growls.
Over on the Steal the Light side, you have an early version of the progressive metal piece "Wastrel", complete with some nifty Children of Bodom/Sonatic Artica styled guitar & keyboard exchanges, the symphonic death metal attack of "Candles For Giordano Bruno", the wild "Ammo" (featuring plenty of guitar heroics), and the grueling melo-death number "Lost and Found". Though the two bonus tracks included are of poor audio quality, the bands take on Megadeth's "Hangar 18" is kind of fun and a worthy inclusion here.
There you have it, a welcome remaster/reissue of a little known melodic death metal gem from Finland's Omnium Gatherum. Check it out if you haven't already done so.
Track Listing
Spirits and August Light
1. Writhen
2. Deathwhite
3. Perfumed Garden
4. Amor Tonight
5. Cure a Wound
6. Emptiness of Spirit
7. Wastrel
8. Son's Thoughts
9. It Shines
Steal the Light
10. Wastrel
11. Son's Thoughts
12. Candles For Giordano Bruno
13. Ammo
14. Lost and Found
Bonus Tracks-Woodbine Garden Sessions
15. Suicide Machine
16. Hangar 18
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