Label - Self-release
Release Date - 12th May
Words- Tony Bliss
Plugging away since 2009 and enduring a rather turbulent career thus far, Omnerod may or may not be a name you are already familiar with. Line-up changes and inner band turmoil be damned however, as this Belgian four-piece and their entirely unsubtle take on contemporary prog-metal should have long since garnered the same attention currently enjoyed by less deserving bands. The Amensal RIse finds these lads in particularly fierce form, deftly powering their way through a clutch of often extraordinary tunes which - with any justice - should see their reputation skyrocket beyond many of their peers. Make no mistake about it, this thing absolutely rules.
It’s true that fans of Devin Townsend, Leprous and the like will adore every last second of this given its rich grasp of melody and a strong sense of all things cinematic, yet carving out a fresh niche always seems to be at the forefront of Omnerod’s creative vision. Opener ‘Sunday Heat’ is a beastly thing, crashing in on a wave of churning dissonance but offset by some stupendous clean vocals from main-man Roman Jeuniaux, before veering head-first into brutish polyrhythmic death metal. It’s relatively snappy (by this records standards, clocking in at just shy of six minutes) yet heart-stoppingly dramatic, and but a tidbit of things to come for our grateful ears.
Next up, ‘Satellites’ cranks up the insanity dial a few notches, the muscular riff work bringing to mind Dream Theater at their most aggressive as we drift between roiling, blast-beat extremity, vamping key-led rest bites and oddball theatrics - imagine Gojira jamming with Between The Buried And Me and you might be something close to the mark. ‘Spore’ is equally as nuts, its exquisite first three minutes (think Ghost-era Devin) quickly evolving into big chorus melodrama, the listener constantly on the verge of a new mutation as we are shifted to and fro. As with most of the album, it's both beautiful and bewildering.
‘Magnets’ fuses the ultra-modern, monochrome grooves of a band like Periphery with a sense of candle-lit dread a-la Ghost Reveries Opeth, whilst the title track is half acid-damaged ballad, half later-day Morbid Angel given a mixing board nitro-boost; ‘Towards The Core’ continues to delve into more dynamic rabbit holes, it’s soaring arms-aloft opening slowly moving into a supercharged tech-storm - closer ‘The Commensal Fall’ follows suit with an explosion of constantly shifting ideas, and is probably the most white knuckle, runaway rollercoaster ride of speed-driven intensity we are likely to hear this year. Indeed, with all its cross-genre blurring and sprawling mini-epics, The Amensal Rise is demanding in a way all the best prog records tend to be, and manages to pull off the neat trick of wearing its influences proudly on its sleeve whilst, crucially, the band continue to forge their own stylistic core. Opulent and exquisite from the get-go, it’s worth stressing this point one last time - this thing absolutely rules.
8.5/10
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