Omnium Gatherum is here for twenty years already and for that time they had some weak records (Years In Waste, Stuck here On Snakes Way) and some great ones (New World Shadows and Beyond). The best two albums came in the last five years, and if that trend is accurate, Grey Heavens, their new album, should be a quality offering again confirming Omnium Gatherum’s melodeath playing skills. Is that the case? Stay here and find out.
As soon as the first riff starts you realize that the beginning of The Pit, the album opener, sounds exactly like Bullet Ride, album opener on the famous Clayman, probably the best melodeath album ever. Other than familiar eerie melody at the start of the song, The Pit is a mediocre composition that you’ll forget as soon as it ends. The second song is called Only For The Weak, but it sounds kinda strange, oh wait… It's actually called Skyline and it looks so similar to Only for The Weak that it's odd listening to it. Riffs, hooks, tempo changes, it’s (almost) the same as in In Flame’s classic, aside from vocals.
So, first two songs can be described as Déjà vu experiences, it’s weird because Omnium Gatherum isn't a band in need of inspiration. They rocked on last two albums, especially on New World Shadows, a fantastic melodeath record with huge riffs, great songwriting and killer vocals. Oh, well…
Almost all other songs are subpar, especially the eight and a half minute long Majesty and Silence. A long, slow song that is a real chore to listen to; the last third of it is ok, with great solos and a slick change of pace but only the handful of people will listen to it in whole. Frontiers is a positive surprise, a song with catchy chorus hook, great riffs and a classic melodeath song structure. There are few other songs worth mentioning. Rejuvenate! is a fun listen, and These Grey Heavens is probably the runner up for the best album song. But the quality of other tunes makes this album mediocre attempt at playing modern melodeath. Production is not a problem; mixing is of high quality, especially the work with the vocals that sound crisp and just powerful enough. One of the problems is the lack of keyboard parts through the better part of the album; These Grey Heavens is so good because it has some killer keyboard passages, among other things. The songs just sound uninteresting, like their colors faded from hundreds of washing cycles.
All in All, Grey Heavens is an album that you’ll play a couple of times and then forget about it, with only Frontiers having a chance to stay on some “good songs from meh albums” playlist. If you crave for a quality modern melodeath listen to Insomnium, or Be’lakor, the champions of this kind of sound.
