Omnium Gatherum - May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way

Angry Metal Guy 60

Finland’s Omnium Gatherum have tinkered with their sound regularly over their career, ranging from rough Gothenburg-infected melodeath, to more melancholic and gloomy environs on career high points like New World Shadows and Beyond, and on to a more direct and modern style on The Burning Cold. 2021s Origin further simplified and smoothed out their sound into what could be described as melodeath-lite, and while some loved the new approach, it left me flat and felt forced and somewhat soulless. On 10th album, May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way, they change colors again, opting for a course correction to hit the sweet spot between the more grandiose sounds heard on New World Shadows and the uber-polished, rock-oriented moments of Origin. The core OG sound is still in play with the usual bells and whistles, but this time it’s more lively and aggressive with more consistently engaging writing. The same cannot be said for that album art, but we don’t all get everything we want all the time.

After a mood-setting title track intro piece, things get moving on “My Pain,” which sounds enough like the New World Shadows era to get my attention and respect. The combination of the floral guitars and keyboards works as it should, and Jukka Pelkonen’s death vocals are offset well by Markus Vanhala’s clean singing. It’s an earwormy mix that sticks in the brain fast and hard, and it’s hard to resist the rousing melodeath churn with the expected gloss of Finnish gloom lurking around the edges. Much of the energy and momentum generated here carries over into “Last Hero,” which is fast, urgent, and hungry and delivers a simple but effective chorus. They aren’t reinventing the OG sound here so much as borrowing from various older eras. This one could have been on The Redshift or New World and fit in just fine. “The Darkest City” is the longest track, taking time to dabble in a variety of moods and textures, and once again, it reminds of the New World era but with touches of Origin’s slick minimalism. At almost 7 minutes, it manages to hold your attention and delivers some gorgeous guitar work along the way, replete with classic Finnish sadboi thrills.

The writing remains sharp as May the Bridges We Burn rolls on, and the heaviness I missed last time is back in spades. “Walking Ghost Phase” is a simple but rowdy cut with bite and pop, and “Ignite the Flame” is thrashy and forceful, with a memorable chorus. No tracks feel like filler with most cuts offering a good dose of heft and anger, even when it’s wrapped in melodeath polish and prettiness. The whole package runs just over 40 minutes with only 7 proper tracks, an intro, and outro, so there’s not a lot of meat on the bone, but what’s there is better than what we got last time. The production by Jens Borgen and Soilwork / The Night Flight Orchestra frontman Björn Strid is fine for what OG do; bright and modern with ample heft on the guitars, and never allowing the keyboards to take over the show or become overweening.

Markus Vanhala delivers MOAR riffs and classically Finnish harmonies than any other three axe meisters could, girding every track with heavy leads and gorgeous and moody flourishes. It’s his playing and how he combines with the keyboards from Aapo Koivisto that propel the OG sound and keep things moving and grooving. Much of what could be considered hooks flow from what they do. Jukka’s consistent death roars and snarls as the same as always, competent, potent, but generally limited. That doesn’t stop the band from managing to write a collection of fairly memorable numbers, though, ranging from good to occasionally very good.

I doubt Ominium Gatherum will ever release another New World Shadows or Beyond, but at least May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way allays my fears that they were trending into a soft melodeath doom spiral. This is an album full of catchy, easily digestible metal with enough balls, though it can end up feeling a bit insubstantial and overly sugar-coated at certain points. There are worse things to endure, though, and fans should be pleased. On with the Omnium.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Fucking STREAM!!
Label: Century Media
Websites: omniumgatherum.bandcamp.com/album | facebook.com/omniumgatherumband | instagram.com/omniumgatherumofficial
Releases Worldwide: November 7th, 2025

The post Omnium Gatherum – May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.