Fretmiden is an interesting and relatively young Norwegian metal outfit hailing from the rainy city of Bergen, and this 9-track effort of theirs entitled "Omen" is a well-written and memorable slab of brutality and groove. These guys are largely inspired by modern extreme metal and metal core, but the cool thing about these fuckers is that they weave quite a lot of different influences and inspirations together to great effect. There are countless breakdowns, bouncy riffs, punchy bass lines, and crushing drums to be found on the album, which is obviously a great thing. Bands such as Meshuggah, Devildriver, and to some extent Shadows Fall and Chimaira come to mind yet Fretmiden does not sound like some cheap carbon copy of any of those.

 

The vocals are convincing and quite varied while the guitar work sounds inspired and forceful. The rhythm section consisting of William Mjanger (drums) and Karim Halvorsen is pretty solid too, but having said that, "Omen" is not the tighest or most disciplined thing that I have ever come across. Then again, these guys have not exactly been honing their skills together for years on end, which is to say that with time and experience I reckon that Fretmiden might actually turn into a highly structured and frightening musical entity capable of laying waste to all the clubs and venues out there. Mark my goddamn words! As to the highlights of the album, the diverse title track is the standout cut along with the raging "The Shell". Those tunes could potentially snap your neck, so consider yourself warned.

This is not exactly groundbreaking stuff and there is definitely room for improvement, but "Omen" shows a lot of potential and it will be interesting to see what Fretmiden will come up with next. If you are on the lookout for hard-hitting and razor-sharp metal of the aggressive kind, look no further than this album, so get off your worthless ass and check it out on Soundcloud or Spotify. Ugh, before I forget, the cover artwork looks pretty damn wicked too. Good stuff!

 

https://soundcloud.com/fretmiden/albums