Steal the Light

I consider myself to be a trustee of the Finnish brand of melodic death metal more so than the earlier, Swedish version. Part of the reason is the same as that by which most fans of the extreme and brutal fringes of death metal are repelled by the entire genre, namely the overt power metal tendencies. Some bands embody it more than others, with Children Of Bodom and Imperanon being the most overt of the lot, but as a whole Finland's camp gave up on any pretense of hiding the Helloween and Stratovarius influences already inherent in the mid 90s Gothenburg strain and outright embraced it as the dominant force in all areas save vocal work. The basic message being; "Screw it, let's play our guitar solos as fast and technically edgy as possible, lay out melodic lines that are twice as busy as our Swedish competitors, play at fast tempos almost the entire time, and make the keyboards just as prominent as the guitars".

While Omnium Gatherum maintained this sound aesthetic upon the release of their first LP, it was the re-recording of earlier demo material that became the "Steal The Light" EP where this band's most concentrated burst of power infused brilliance was brought forth. The same sort of frenzied mayhem that made "Hatebreeder" such a fun album is all over every inch of this baby, though the songwriting is slightly more symmetrical and predictable, and the garbled groans of Antti Filppu are not quite as enraged and vile sounding as Alexi Laiho's circa this time period. The production job is also a bit low-fi by melodeath standards from this period, featuring a drum sound that's a tiny bit mechanical and a somewhat distant sounding vocal presence, but it actually tends to work well with the fast paced character of the album and allows for the needed emphasis on the guitars and keyboards, both of which are busy at literally every turn.

There isn't a dull moment to speak of on this 25 minute extravaganza, though the pinnacle of every masterful element employed comes to fruition on "Ammo". This song literally sounds like it could have been a b-side from Skyfire's "Timeless Departure" (a Swedish band incorporating the Finnish sound and bringing its technical and progressive aspects to sheer perfection), as it merges a highly technical array of power metal riffs with enough lead fills to make Eddie Van Halen blush. The absolute beauty of this song is that while it puts forth a barrage of technical wizardry fit for Yngwie Malmsteen, it maintains melodic coherence and holds tight to a familiar and accessible core. In spite of all the changes going on, this song sounds like a modified version of a mid 80s Iron Maiden tune played at a higher tempo, and including all the other obvious stylistic quirks unique to this popular sub-style of death metal.

It's bittersweet that nearly every band attached to this era of melodeath has since taken to a more reserved approach (with the exception of Kalmah, and it does appear that Children Of Bodom are moving in a similar direction), because this is where the style truly hit its peak and provided a more accessible yet still intense answer to the brilliant beast that was spawned by At The Gates and Dissection in the 90s. It has all the needed elements to rope in those who want a good catchy tune going on, as well as shred enthusiasts who want to challenge their finger dexterity with a tuneful set of virtuosic solos. While this might be a bit light sounding compared to what normally is associated with death metal, this is definitely a light worth stealing.