Rockezine.com interview with Omnium Gatherum on Jul 28, 2004

with Markus Vanhala on Jul 28, 2004


		Since Omnium Gatherum is still relatively unknown, can you briefly describe the history of the band? Omnium Gatherum is something like a new wave (melodic) death metal band from Kotka, Finland. The band was formed somewhere in 1996. After our fourth demo “Wastrel” from the year 2001 the English Rage Of Achilles label snapped us to their roster. The debut mini cd “Steal The Light” was released in fall 2002 and the our first full length album “Spirits And August Light” was released in spring 2003. Both releases have caused a lot of great feedback from the metal media and that has brought the band for example bigger gigs with the likes of Children Of Bodom, Zyklon, Rotten Sound, Diablo, Lullacry, Norther, Ensiferum…
		Your debut album “Spirits And August Light” was very well received in the media, and some already called you the new melodic death sensation from Finland. Did you expect such positive feedback? I didn’t have many expectations concerning the reviews at all, so of course all that great praising of the band has surprised us a lot and afterwards many bands have been compared to us. The cd got a few ‘album of the month’ titles etc. Reviews generally summed up the same statement: although the genre ‘melodic death’ is very overcrowded with tame and uninteresting new bands, Omnium Gatherum have still managed to breathe new and fresh air into the scene and have made metal that sounds fresh and original. It was also a great surprise that the album has sold much better than I expected it would sell; like only something like 1000 copies or so…
		Personally, I am not a big fan of Swedish melodic death metal, but I have to admit that you guys positively surprised me. What do you think sets Omnium Gatherum apart from the zillion and one other melodic death metal acts? We are a Finnish band that sounds like a Swedish band, that’s the main difference. A defector band that attempts to have that Swedish vibe and groove mixed with Finnish stubborn rage or something… One thing - I guess - is that I’m the only dude in the band who listens to Swedish melodic stuff at all. We all like very different kinds of music. …And we have never really speculated or decided that we wanted to play this Swedish type of metal; this is just the stuff which comes into existence when our six-piece locks down into the studio and rehearsal room.
We are a Finnish band that sounds like a Swedish band, that’s the main difference.		Obviously Omnium Gatherum play metal that is heavily influenced by the Swedish melodic death scene. What bands have influenced your style the most? At The Gates of course and that Swedish section like Edge Of Sanity, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Entombed, Opeth, Katatonia… Nowadays influences come from everywhere and not just metal (especially not JUST Swedish melodic death metal). Judas Priest, Death, Annihilator, Devin Townsend and Ozzy are my biggest favorites. Now I have some nostalgic period going on as I’m only listening to my pre-teen favorites like Whitesnake, Van Halen etc… I even bought a Scorpions LP last week, that’s sick man!
		I know that some of the members of Omnium Gatherum are playing in other bands, can you tell us a bit more about these bands, or are they more side projects? The Omnium Gatherum guys play also in Total Devastation, Manitou, Gore Penetration, Kaihoro. Total Devastation and Manitou have now also made full-length albums; so they are not just ‘side projects’ anymore, all bands play very different kinds of stuff, so it’s a good therapy to play in other bands. And they haven’t yet consumed each other. Alongside Omnium Gatherum I also play in Manitou, a progressive traditional heavy metal band, and in Gore Penetration, which is a bizarre and perverted gore-grind-death crew, and lately I also have become the session guitarist of Malpractice (the progressive metal band of To/Die/For’s lead guitarist). I guess you are not man enough if just have one band... hehe =)
		“Spirits And August Light” was produced by Nino from the, at the moment terribly hyped, Thunderstone; are you satisfied with his sound, and will you use his services on future releases? The “Spirits And August Light” album was recorded and mixed in two weeks and that was really the first ‘official’ album that Nino has produced, so considering those facts Nino did a really great job. It is also a positive thing that the sound of the album isn’t so usual Finnish; like most albums recorded at Finnvox Studios or someone else’s ‘usual’ Finnish metal studio… Our new album has already been recorded and we once again used the Sonic Pump studio with Nino. This time we also brought in an outsider producer in the form of Teemu Aalto, helping us to get the final edge. We had a lot more time to record this new record than “Spirits And August Light” and it can definitely be heard!
I guess you are not man enough if just have one band...		In my opinion the Finnish metal scene is rather strange; you either play black metal or poppy power metal, but there seems to be hardly anything in between. How do you see this situation? That isn’t all true since there are many great bands outside of those genres; great examples are Tarot, Rotten Sound, Amoral, Swallow the Sun, Total Devastation, Manitou and many many more. I guess a new generation is coming as well as a revolution as people begin to get fed up with this power metal / Children Of Bodom metal thing…
		And how does Omnium Gatherum fit in, or are you aiming more for international markets? We are a part of this Finnish alternative nation since at least our new stuff can not be compared to the Bodom metal market at all, neither to black nor power metal… Middle Europe and England have been our best selling markets to this day and we are selling far better outside Finland at the moment but it’s also a promotional thing as we haven’t been promoted so much in Finland.
		If I am correct you guys have a record deal with a small label. Can you tell us a bit more about this label, and are you satisfied with the promotion said label provides? The forthcoming new album will be released through a completely new label; at the moment we are negotiating with several very good options. However, Rage Of Achilles did a very good job on our previous releases considering the size of the label and the resources available and they really started to get our things going. So thanks a lot to Duncan and the RoA crew! Of course it’s nearly impossible to compete with big labels and their over-hyped and massively promoted big releases when you are on an underground label but we are really fighting back! Of course because of the small label we also haven’t been able to tour abroad…
		What are your hopes for the future? We’ll see what the metal heads and media will say about our forthcoming album “Years In Waste” which will be out hopefully in October. At least we think it’s definitely our best piece of work so far! The sound has become at the same time more progressive as well as heavier and definitely more diversified! Hopefully after this next release we could go on tour and play many gigs outside Finland as most Omnium Gatherum fans are definitely from outside Finland!
		Thanks a lot and good luck with the future of Omnium Gatherum. Is there anything you want to add to this interview? Thanks Frank and Rockezine! Everybody check out our fruit of two wasted years in the rehearsal room in the form of the “Years In Waste” album coming at the end of this year. Cheers!
		(Frank van de Voorde)