Omnium Gatherum is a band that continues to propel themselves forwards. In a career that has already spanned 22 years, the band has slowly been building momentum and growing their reputation at a steady rate. Ahead of the release of their 8th studio album The Burning Cold, Metal Wani’s Jake Patton had the opportunity to discuss the new album with Omnium Gatherum lead guitarist Markus Vanhala.
They begin their conversation by discussing the new album The Burning Cold and the bands anticipation for its release and how it feels to be releasing new music 22 years into their career to which Vanhala remarks “it’s always a cool feeling to release a new album. We are really proud of this album and we feel that it’s the finest moment of Omnium Gatherum”.
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Omnium Gatherum have spent the past ten years forging a great path for their career, releasing six of their albums in this time, but they are still a band that doesn’t fit any ordinary genre categories that people normally attribute to them, something which Vanhala sees a funny side to “People have asked how you would describe OG’s style to someone who has never heard it before, and I came up with this stupid thing where if you mixed At the Gates with Journey and breed it with Finnish melancholy then you might be near!”
The discussion focuses on The Burning Cold and the writing process, shining light on the bands growth since the previous album, and also discusses some of the intricacies that the band has adopted this time around – like shorter song durations and catchier hooks, and the absence of the album of the single Blade Reflections that was released late last year.
They then talk about the introduction of new drummer Tuomo Latvala into the fold, and how he has helped shape this record by injecting some new life into the band, before discussing the other non-band members that have worked on this album, a very close knit group of people who have helped Omnium Gatherum for several releases now. “We like to keep it in the family” Vanhala remarks when asked about the bands decision to again use producer Teemu Aalto and again adopting Dan Swano on mixing duties.
They close out the discussion by talking about the bands expectations for this album having now signed to Century Media records for global distribution, before talking about the bands touring plans for the rest of 2018, desired new locations to tour and what is on the horizon for 2019.