Despite many countries producing many Melodic Metal or Melodic Death Metal bands, there will always be a certain something to be said for Scandinavian Melodeath. Finland’s Omnium Gatherum have certainly got the experience of 20+ years under their belt and this being their eighth album and first since they signed with Century Media Records after the success of 2016’s Grey Heavens, the band must be excited and easily have reason to be. The Burning Cold certainly captures a sense of charming melody made epic, accompanying their usual hand at powerful, but not overpowering, Extreme Metal. What seems to achieve this is the fast and insistent drums never letting go – hats off to their new drummer Tuomo Latvala. The powerful beat is wonderfully supporting a guitar playing that knows the difference between speed and well-crafted melodies. Songs like ‘Gods Go First’, ‘Rest in Your Heart’ and ‘Planet Scale’ reflect this perfectly. They also show the aggressive rhythms approaching a near groove-like quality as the riffs hammer the point home with distorted guitars achieving a sense of atmosphere. It all fits together so well to compliment the best of all musicians hitting a focal point arm-in-arm. It almost recalls other extreme bands like Thy Serpent or Ensiferum. The deep vocals have that unmistakable Amon Amarth quality but don’t mistake that they aren’t distinct in their sound. It’s actually surprising when bands of this accomplished nature have only just gotten through to the surface. The vocals lead each song into that aggressive raw energy that extreme metal has. That being said, proper praise should be given to the keyboard arrangements that bolster each song so majestically – as in ‘Be The Sky’ and ‘Planet Scale’. With a recipe like this they’re able to craft fast or slow, full on or sparingly atmospheric songs with ease – ‘Cold’ being an example of this calmness. Omnium Gatherum are quickly proving themselves as an Extreme Metal band to look out for, especially if you’re a fan of your Metal being melodic or atmospheric or even symphonic. This marks an accomplished addition to their catalogue and is a great follow up to their previous album, Grey Heavens. The Burning Cold is a powerful album for the band and they look to be keeping their high and are more than able to offer more powerful hits with each release. A hard one to miss for Melodic Death Metal. Score: 8/10 Facebook: /omniumgatherumband/ Twitter: @OGBand Bandcamp: omniumgatherumlfr.bandcamp.com/ Website: www.omniumgatherum.org/