Omnium Gatherum

This article is about the melodic death metal band. For other uses, see Omnium Gatherum (disambiguation).

Omnium Gatherum
Omnium Gatherum at Rockharz Open Air 2016 in Germany
Background information
Origin	Karhula, Finland
Genres	Melodic death metal
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Nuclear Blast, Candlelight, Lifeforce, Century Media
Members	Markus Vanhala Aapo Koivisto Jukka Pelkonen Mikko Kivistö Atte Pesonen Nick Cordle
Past members	Jarmo Pikka Erkki Silvennoinen Joonas "Jope" Koto Tuomo Latvala
Website	omniumgatherum.org

Omnium Gatherum is a six-piece melodic death metal band from Finland, founded in the autumn of 1996. Although the band mainly follows the path of the melodic death metal genre, much of their work shows strong influences from progressive metal, especially their later albums. Their music is influenced by Gothenburg-style bands such as At the Gates, In Flames, Dissection, Dark Tranquillity, but also Iron Maiden, Death, Anathema and Megadeth among others. ^[1]

Lead guitarist Markus Vanhala at Rockharz 2019

Keyboardist Aapo Koivisto at Rockharz 2019

Lead vocalist Jukka Pelkonen at Rockharz 2019

Rhythm guitarist Joonas Koto and bassist Erkki Silvennoinen at Rockharz 2016

Drummer Tuomo Latvala at Rockharz 2016

History

After releasing four demos, and an EP they recorded after getting signed to Rage of Achilles, their debut full-length album "Spirits And August Light" was released in April 2003 via Rage Of Achilles and gave the band some attention within the underground metal community and the press. ^[2]

Next, the band signed to the major metal label Nuclear Blast in the autumn of 2004 to release the second album "Years In Waste". This album was more technical and progressive than their earlier releases. ^[2]

In spring 2006, long-time singer Antti Filppu was replaced by Jukka Pelkonen aka J. ^[2]

"Stuck Here On Snakes Way" was the debut OG album featuring J on vocals and it was released in April 2007 after a successful UK tour and a signing to Candlelight Records. The band followed the album with tours alongside Dark Tranquillity, Caliban and Entombed, as well as a large amount of Finnish headlining gigs and attained the No. 31 position in the Finnish national album chart. ^[2]

Omnium Gatherum's fourth album "The Redshift" was recorded at Sound Supreme and SouthEastSounds Studios during the spring days of 2008 and it was mixed and mastered at Unisound Studio in Sweden by the renowned metal musician and producer, Dan Swanö, who stated of the album: "I hate bands like Omnium Gatherum, they are so good it pisses me off!!! Their fine blend of melody and aggression is so good I actually thought about stealing the record and releasing it as my own :) You won´t find a better album in years." ^[2] Their 2008 album The Redshift had generally positive reviews, inked band to do long European tours with Nile/Grave in 2008 and Swallow The Sun/Insomnium in 2009 and even charting in Finnish official album chart to position No. 24. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

In the summer of 2008 bassist Eerik Purdon announced that he will be leaving Omnium Gatherum, and In 2009 Toni Mäki Officially joined Omnium Gatherum as their new bassist. ^{[2] [6]}

In August 2010, Omnium Gatherum announced that they had signed a deal with Lifeforce Records for their next release, and that their longtime rhythm guitarist Harri Pikka had left the band. Their official statement read "We're really sorry to announce also that Harri Pikka has silently decided to flee the OG crew after 13 years of solid service. We don't know his exact reasons for this but maybe someday mr. Mystery Man tells us… :) At the moment we've decided to finish the new album as a 5-piece unit, but we have the best possible live guitar unit called Joonas Koto (Malpractice / Ex-To/Die/For / Ex-Hateframe) filling the second guitar live duties at the moment and it rocks!" Omnium Gatherum entered the studio to record their fifth studio album for an early 2011 release. Lead guitarist Markus Vanhala handled all guitar parts for the recording. Mixing and mastering were handled by Dan Swano. ^{[2] [7] [8]}

Their fifth album, "New World Shadows", was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on February 4. 2011, in Finland, Sweden and Hungary on February 9, the rest of Europe on February 7, and North America on March 1. "New World Shadows" topped the Finnish album charts and was on the 5th position on official national album chart and was on the 1st position in Finnish Rumba indie chart! ^[2] The album was the band's first to be released via Lifeforce Records. It was recorded during the period August 2010 - October 2010. After the album release, Omnium Gatherum toured Europe with Rotting Christ in April/May 2011. ^[2]

New World Shadows was critically acclaimed, and is considered to be one of the best melodic death metal albums in Finnish metal. ^[9] It is renowned for the mixture of harmonizing melodies along with typical death/heavy metal guitars and drumming. The vocal styles vary from deep death growls to clean vocals. The sound of the album is epic and progressive.

On June 17 it was announced that Joonas "Jope" Koto had joined Omnium Gatherum as their new full-time second guitarist, replacing Harri Pikka. ^[10]

On July 10, 2015, the band announced that they had almost finished the recordings for a new album. ^[11] The album, "Grey Heavens", was released in 2016.

In 2021, Omnium Gatherum released their ninth studio album "Origin" and announced a North American tour, supported by Allegaeon and Black Crown Initiate. ^[12]

Members

Current members

• Markus Vanhala – lead guitar (1996–present)
• Aapo Koivisto – keyboards, backing vocals (2005–present)
• Jukka Pelkonen – lead vocals (2006–present)
• Mikko Kivistö – bass (2020–present)
• Atte Pesonen – drums (2021–present)
• Nick Cordle – rhythm guitar (2022–present)

Former members

• Olli Lappalainen – lead vocals (1996–2000), rhythm guitar (1996–1997)
• Ville Salonen - drums (1996–1999)
• Mikko Nykänen – keyboards (1996–1999)
• Olli Mikkonen – bass (1996–1997)
• Harri Pikka – rhythm guitar (1997–2010)
• Jari Kuusisto – bass (1997–1998)
• Janne Markkanen – bass (1998–2007)
• Jarmo Pikka – drums (1999–2016)
• Tomi Pekkola – keyboards (1999–2001)
• Antti Filppu – lead vocals (2000–2006)
• Mikko Pennanen – keyboards (2001–2003)
• Jukka Perälä – keyboards (2003–2005)
• Eerik Purdon – bass (2007–2008)
• Toni "Tsygä" Mäki – bass (2009–2012)
• Joonas "Jope" Koto – rhythm guitar, backing and clean vocals (2010–2020)
• Erkki Silvennoinen – bass (2012–2019)
• Tuomo Latvala – drums (2016–2021)
• Pyry Hanski – bass (2019–2020)

Timeline

Discography

• Steal the Light (EP) (2002)
• Spirits and August Light (2003)
• Years in Waste (2004)
• Stuck Here on Snakes Way (2007)
• The Redshift (2008)
• New World Shadows (2011)
• Beyond (2013)
• Grey Heavens (2016)
• The Burning Cold (2018)
• Origin (2021)
• Slasher (EP) (2023)

References

1. Metalship (2013-02-12). "Interview of Omnium Gatherum with Markus (guitar) and Jukka (vocals)". Metalship. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
2. "Official Website". Omnium Gatherum. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
3. "BurnYourEars Webzine | Metal & Rock Reviews, News, Interviews und Berichte". Burnyourears Webzine. Burnyourears.de. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
4. Etan Rosenbloom (2008-11-05). "Album Review: Omnium Gatherum - The Red Shift | Prefix". Prefixmag.com. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
5. "dfltweb1.onamae.com – このドメインはお名前.comで取得されています。". Archaic-magazine.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
6. "Myspace". Blogs.myspace.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
7. "Myspace". Blogs.myspace.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
8. "Myspace". Blogs.myspace.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
9. "Omnium Gatherum". Alistairmartinmuisc.blogpsot.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
10. "Omnium Gatherum Announces New Guitarist". Roadrunnerrecords.com. 2011-06-17. Archived from the original on 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
11. "Apple Music - Omnium Gatherum". Apple Music. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
12. "OMNIUM GATHERUM, ALLEGAEON & BLACK CROWN INITIATE Announce North American Tour". Metal Injection. 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2022-02-07.

External links

• Official website
• Omnium Gatherum at Myspace