The journey continues for Omnium Gatherum.
For Markus Vanhala (guitar, Insomnium, Cemetery Skyline, I Am the Night), Aapo Koivisto (keyboards, Marianas Rest), Jukka Pelkonen (vocals, ex-Elenium), Mikko Kivistö (bass, Pain Confessor), and Atte Pesonen (drums, Anger Cell, ex-Whispered), 2025 marks the release of their tenth album, May The Bridges We Burn Light The Way.
The album opens with the eponymous introduction, May The Bridges We Burn Light The Way, which gives pride of place to modern keyboard sounds while offering a fairly catchy rhythm, then heady leads before letting My Pain significantly speed up the pace and bring in the first vocals. The mix is quite cold but fits perfectly with the band’s approach, which also adds a little clean singing on the choruses while remaining on an effective staccato base and leads us naturally to The Last Hero, which follows with a fairly similar sound. You can feel the Old School roots in this track, especially thanks to the wild rhythm section, but the musicians don’t shy away from adding their softer melodies, as in The Darkest City, which has a more majestic sound. The contrast between rage and calm is more pronounced, including in the vocals and the airy break, then we find raw energy again on Walking Ghost Phase, where Finnish roots are more than present in these transcendent harmonics while asserting its unifying choruses. Ignite The Flame starts off gently enough to let us catch our breath, but the infectious energy is never far away, and it will obviously end up taking over the riffs to show its full intensity on the solo and join Streets Of Rage. Heavy influences are extremely present on this track, embellished by the power of saturated vocals, unlike Barricades, which offers us a good dose of technicality and a sustained pace conducive to shredding. There is also a break that allows the track to end on a rather haunting note, but Road Closed Ahead already signals the last track with a soothing intro that rubs off on the rhythm that follows, making the instrumental a real moment of relaxation before it finally ends, having given us one last chance to headbang.
Omnium Gatherum is one of the most consistent bands I know, and this tenth album confirms it. There are no bad tracks on May The Bridges We Burn Light The Way, and the band will have a hard time choosing which ones to play live next spring!
85/100
Interview coming soon.