OMNIVIDE – A Tale Of Fire

RELEASE YEAR: 2024

BAND URL: https://omnivide.ca/

When Opeth gave up (thankfully, temporarily) on the “death” part in their progressive death metal stylings after Watershed²⁰⁰⁸ (now we know why so called) there came what usually comes after a legendary metal force mellows down: an onslaught of would be successors, some whom had started while Opeth was still alive and breathing fire and brimstone. Along with the likes of In Mourning and Barren Earth, there also arose tribute bands. One of those was Canadian Sunbird who changed the name to Omnivide in 2020 in its founding lineup featuring Samuel Frenette (guitars, vocals), Nicolas Pierre Boudreau (guitars), Samuel Lavoie (keyboards), Marc-André Richard (drums) and Alex Olmstead (bass), of whom Olmstead left replaced by Alex Cormier for the recording of, so far the only Omnivide recording, this here, debut full length, A Tale Of Fire²⁰²⁴, independently released on March 22nd courtesy of the relentless super promoter Jon Asher and his Asher Media Relations, and what a debut it is, even better than Opeth’s Orchid¹⁹⁹⁴!

Whereas Orchid¹⁹⁹⁴ was a rather one-dimensional affair with occasional acoustic breaks, “A Tale Of Fire” is a progressive work precisely because of the fact that it melds melodic, technical and symphonic death metal into one powerful mix that’s like Forest Gump’s “box of chocolates” – you really don’t know what you’re going to get throughout these 8 tracks, as Omnivide spin an apparent tale of a man rejected by society who somehow becomes a fire-breathing dragon who then takes vengeance on his former kin until his death by that very former kin, and no, you’re not free from surprises after your first spin. In fact, if you just listen to it once it won’t seem like much and I was even considering giving this disc 4/6. But I am a patient and experienced, and, most importantly, old reviewer so I pressed on and was rewarded after about 3rd spin and I’m sure it will likely reveal itself to you around the same number. Sometimes it’s obvious you can’t squeeze the reviewed material for more and you know the score is obvious and fair. But in Omnivide’s case one really has to sink one’s ears into it and so I did. Discovering it’s fullness is one of the greatest pleasures a reviewer can experience, especially when, in the course of the submergence, it becomes clear that every single band member gave it 100% of their knowledge skill and ability.

Take, for example, the two, pretty much straight technical death metal tracks, the title and “Holly Killer”, nothing much above the mastery that, nevertheless, could give Obscura or Alkaloid a headspin, especially the title track could even be labeled brutal death metal as it teeters on the edge of unlistenability, but I’m convinced they know it because as soon as your brain starts to shut down a pleasant keyboard melody takes it away for ya. And I don’t even particularly like those two tracks, even if they sure are masterfully put together with that kind of Dream Theateresque madness. Still, were the remaining 6 tracks like those I would have not been so enthusiastic about this release.

What gets my ears and brain going are tracks that pack a lot of ebbs and flows and twists and turns as well as sudden changes of pace on a dime, while not forsaking clear melody and “Desolate”, where Omnivide rightfully opines that If you want to test a man’s character give him power (but, for crying outloud, never give him more of it if he has already failed the test with less, for he who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much <Luke 16:10 NASB1995>), that track is a fantastic example of what these stupifyingly skilled and talented Canadians are capable of as they take the melodeathly rhythm of Determination²⁰⁰¹ God Forbid (one of my favorite albums) and melodiscism and epicry of Soilwork’s The Chainheart Machine¹⁹⁹⁹ (the ending melody almost “Room No. 99”) and put it together as if they have always been one and then douse it with the kind of soloing wizardry their countrymen Into Eternity are capable of unleashing (specifically Scattering Of Ashes²⁰⁰⁶), but, through that name dropping are you to assume you won’t hear Opeth? Hardly, you’ll still hear Opeth, that good old classic fascinating and seemingly unmatched Opeth. You’ll hear even more of it on the two closing cuts, “Death Be Not Proud” and “Stoned Dragon” (double entendre?), but you’ll also hear more singing that will remind you of Fear Factory and its former vocalist extraordinaire Burton C. Bell, and then you’ll hear some latter Death, but that sparingly and tastefully as if through the prism of… Obscura’s Omnivium²⁰¹¹ (get it?) another obvious influence next to Opeth, but, wait, that’s not all, because Omnivide surprises for the last time with the kind of Pink Floydian conclusion of the album without dropping an ounce of melodic death metal weight and it morphs into a riff equal Soilwork and Evergrey.

“A Tale Of Fire” is a very good album but it is a debut and, as such, it does have some things that make you go hmm (to quote C&C Music Factory). For example, as we learn the timeless truth that “deep in every man’s heart lies unbounded darkness, the seed of corruption present in both saints and tyrants” from the opening “Clarity”, we’re slowly, gradually introduced to every aspect of the band’s sound, something that very much continues throughout the video single “Opulence” but reaches its apogee in the aforementioned “Desolate” which then naturally seques into the mindscrew of the title track. I would have preferred to get blasted off my reviewer’s armchair with the first track, possibly with that title track skullscrew that doesn’t happen until almost at the end of the first half, and then it would be nice if it were slowly losing momentum until “Desolate”. As it is now structured it has an appearance of a Vietnam War or Operation Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom quagmire where your morning indigenous friends become your worst evening enemies (believe the voice of experience from one of those). It’s all about the flow, folks. And then there are those songs themselves, the first two and “Cosmic Convergence” just pale a bit in comparison with the highlights, and, before you counterstrike, I’ve listened to them 6 times to notice that difference. And last but not least: the cutting into separate tracks – why is the closer not naturally starting at where it is currently at a 0:44 mark? (I fell for it twice thinking it were so!) I know that the above are a matter of opinion not necessarily craft, and, make no mistake, this disc is artful as Leonardo da Vinci, but I do chalk it up to the fact that this is Omnivide’s first and only record to date. In any case, the star is born, may it shine brighter every two or three years.