In The Woods... - Omnio |
Rating - 5/5 |
By Greg Northrup
In The Woods... have
defied all expectations via their latest recording, Omnio. Through the use of keyboards,
female vocals, and violins combined with excellent quiet/heavy dynamics and long,
immersive songs, In The Woods... has forged a masterpiece. They have shed all the black
metal trappings of their previous effort, Heart Of Ages, and really let forth a metallic
supernova through this album.
In The Woods...'s
strength lies in their diversified approach. The varied instrumentation on the album keeps
the long songs from becoming tedious, and really allows the band's compositional talents
to shine. They have by no means "sold out" by dumping the 'black' vocal style,
in fact, the songs are as about as uncommercial as they come due, to their length and
possibly esoteric nature. The female/ 'clean' male vocal switches serve as effective
counterpoints and are actually one the best things about the album.
The problems with this
album are virtually non-existent, the only complaint that one might come up with if one
looked hard enough is that the listener might find his/her attention wandering at various
times during the album. In fact, I often find myself drifting off and falling asleep while
listening to it. However, this is a small complaint and is due more to the sometimes
dreamy and spaced-out nature of the record than any kind of boredom. "Weeping
Willow" is probably my favorite track and is really a microcosm of everything the
album offers.
I'm afraid that this
album may be tragically overlooked by the metal buying public, especially here in America
where availability is non-existent. Even albums released by 'bigger' metal labels like
Century Media and Relapse can be hard to find here, much more so with smaller labels like
Misanthropy, who carry this album. However, I urge any metal fan, especially those who
enjoyed The Gathering's Nighttime Birds or Tiamat's Wildhoney, to actively seek this album
out through mail-order, import stores or any other necessary means.