Style: Technical Death Metal (Harsh vocals)
Review by: Chris
Country: Finland
Release date: November 20, 2020
I don’t always want to take stock in what a band says their main influences are on their sound, but Omnivortex really did nail their 3 band teaser on their Bandcamp. Embracing all the aspects under the umbrella of extreme metal, Omnivortex‘s Diagrams of Consciousness is a great mixture of the best parts of everything from technical death to black metal. This definitely is not an album for the faint of heart, it spends pretty much every second in its length attempting to bludgeon or rip you to shreds with riff after riff. Coupled with an array of vocal presentations from the Gojira-esque pitched yells to true shades of Åkerfeldt, the combination gives a blistering collection of songs that honestly just rip.
Diagrams of Consciousness begins calm, almost chilling, before erupting into a distorted, measured imagining of this initial theme, instantly showing the crispness in all the instruments. The vocals do their first dance between the gutturals and pitched harshes, with the guitars altering their choice of voicings in tandem to bolster the effect. “Cephalic Fluid Extraction” gives the first foray into the true technical side of the band, immediately opening with blistering drums and one of the classic running death metal riffs. The penchant of the two guitarists to go from tremolo riffs to straight death metal hooks without missing a beat or dropping the composition’s connectivity is wonderfully shown in this track, and continues throughout the album. “Lifeharvester” really tickles the Revocation itch with its quick descending riff’s nod to banging thrash riffs, before settling into itself for another great laid back (in comparison) death metal hook. “Chasm” shows a kind of black metal tinge at times, and being honest, typically the back end of that track in a vacuum wouldn’t really belong on the same album as “Barren” or “Lifeharvester”…but it works, which is a true testament to the sense of connectivity Omnivortex really brought to the table on this record.
The production and performances are immaculate, with the attack of every instrument being perfectly in lockstep. The guitars’ crispness really helps add a bleeding edge to all of the riffs and lead lines, while the drums have just the right amount of umpf in them without muddying things up. The choice of drums parts are great and have some real flashes of creativity in the sparser moments, and maintain tastefulness throughout. In the guitar realm, I’m not much of a solo-lover but the solo sections in this album are quite nice, doing a great job balancing showing off the chops with commanding a feeling and emotion in their melodic choices. As mentioned previously, the multiple vocal stylings inside this album lend to more interesting compositional choices and complimenting the mood of the song or section at hand than the typical one-growl-fits-all approach.
If I had to give criticism, I’d say I did find myself wishing for more bass at times, maybe even more a feature of the instrument at times. It may have served a bit too much as a mix-thickener than its own voice for my taste. Perhaps spoiled by the myriad of tech releases this year on the shorter side (looking at you Sutrah) I also felt that the album may overstay its welcome a bit too much, though not as much as some other releases this year. Maybe just trimming the last song a bit would have serviced that end, or maybe some of the more transitionary pieces.
This is an impressive debut for sure. Along with the fact there literally is not a boring riff on this record, it has that rare command of an actual narrative and feeling that so many tech bands seem to lose in the blaze of riffing. There are plenty of contemplative moments inside the riffs of Diagrams of Consciousness, and I think that is what really made it special. That, and the fact it just simply rips so hard.
Recommended tracks: Barren, Apotheosis, Diagrams of Consciousness – Parallel Universe
Recommended for fans of: Revocation, Gojira, The Black Dahlia Murder
Final verdict: 8/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Metal-Archives page
Label: Concorde Music Company – Website | Facebook
Omnivortex is:
– Niko Lindman (vocals)
– Severi Saarioja (guitars, vocals)
– Mikko Pylkkö (guitars_
– Aaro Koskinen (drums)
– Mikael Reinikka (bass)
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