Omnivide – A Tale of Fire
Release Date: 22nd March 2024
Label: Self-Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Prog.
FFO: Obscura, Black Dahlia Murder, Opeth, Alkaloid, Devin Townsend.
Review By: Andy Spoon
Omnivide began as an Opeth tribute project which had eventually begun to take on its own form, ultimately-resulting in an entire library of original music made with the desire to reach fans of technical and progressive symphonic death metal. The final result of this endeavor would result in the 2024 release A Tale of Fire, an 8 track LP which is set to be released on March 22nd, independently.
The influences like Opeth and Obscura are present in spades. It’s great to hear a group of musicians who are generally-aligned on the band’s sound, which is highly technical and melodic at the same time. Imagine if Haken were quite a bit more into the extreme-metal side of things. The band’s listened influences include Obscura and Devin Townsend, something that I could definitely hear in a thorough listening session, especially as some of the tracks have some clean-singing breakout moments that split up some of the technical insanity. Frankly, it goes on a track-by-track basis, but I also like to think that I can hear some of the kinship with Fleshgod Apocalypse when it comes to the technical licks that employ the orchestral synth.
There is quite a bit of face-melting guitar solo work that is absolutely welcome in the mix of extreme and progressive metal. I really appreciate the solo in Desolate, track 3, which seems to draw from some of the power metal/Opeth roots, which is undoubtedly present. However, there is quite a bit more of the death metal nastiness, especially in the vocal section, which takes a back seat to the instrumental section. I found that the heightened extremity comes from the drums and vocals, employing extremely-harsh vocal technique as well as typical-for-genre death metal blast beats and lightning-fast double bass work.
The biggest standout instrument on the album is definitely the synth, which features heavy in almost every track (listen especially on Holy Killer, track 6). The keys are forward in the mix, as to be featured right alongside the lead guitar, often mirroring melodies at high speed. The longer the listening session went, I was more confident that we were listening to something that is going to fill a niche nicely for people who enjoy the symphonic or electronic sounds of the synth, but also want that prodigy-level neoclassical prog/death that relentlessly-steam rolls its audience. I loved some of the overtly-synthy effects on the keys, as they aren’t trying to be perfectly-sampled. I felt like the album was either an homage to the imperfections of synth strings, embracing their uniqueness, or a total oversight (whichI doubt) in the sound department.
That being said, it’s clear that Omnivide wants the sound that you are hearing. It’s like when Coca-Cola invented New Coke™ and it failed miserably in the U.S. The company was forced to take the new product out of commission. However, the market seemed to like the diet version of the new soda, prompting the brand to continue making Diet Coke, while reviving the previous Coca-Cola Original™. The sound of orchestral synth is not enough like the real thing to fool you, but you’ve learned to enjoy it for its own dynamic flavor over the years. It’s becoming part of the musical lexicon of heavy metal in the 2000s-and-later world. All of that is to say, I like the sound that the keys added to the album and I hope that they never lose that touch. I enjoyed A Tale of Fire, as it was lively, cerebral, and still intense to-boot with the wailing guitar leads, proggy synth section, and harsh death metal vocals. I think that people who enjoy melodic synth death metal will flip for this album. It’s got the harsher elements of Obscura and Black Daliah Murder with the musical eccentricities of Haken and Devin Townsend, something that makes for an enjoyable listen.
(3.5 / 5)
