Ville Vänni steps aside from Insomnium and plays his farewell shows next week in Joensuu and Helsinki. It was not an easy decision for anyone. This is what Ville V. has [...]]]> This is Insomnium’s first line-up change in ten years. Ville Vänni has left the band and Markus Vanhala is the new Insomnium guitarist.

Ville Vänni steps aside from Insomnium and plays his farewell shows next week in Joensuu and Helsinki. It was not an easy decision for anyone. This is what Ville V. has to say:

Dear all,

Time is now ripe to share the news about line-up changes in the Insomnium camp. With a heavy heart I have reached the decision to resign from Insomnium. The decision is mutual and final, and there is no big drama behind it.

During the last year I have found myself in a limbo of constant lack of time and impossible schedules. Combining a general surgeon’s career with a busy metal band like Insomnium has already taken years of precise timing, and the candle has been burning from both ends for years now. At the same time, Insomnium has grown bigger demanding more and more time. As a result, I have gradually come to a painful realization that I can not meet the needs of this roller coaster ride any more.

This decision was hard to make and accept for all of us. Insomnium has been like a family and the band mates have been (and will still remain) my best and closest friends. For not being able to give my 100% would only be letting them down. The reason why this decision is made flesh right now is that I will not be able to attend the One For Sorrow European tour. My wife is due to give birth to our first son and it is my responsibility, duty and choice to be home at that time. I will play two first shows in Finland and then bid farewell.

However, the burden of this decision is lightened by the fact that Insomnium will go on and even grow stronger after my retirement. Markus Vanhala from Omnium Gatherum will take my place as a full-time guitarist in Insomnium. He is a good friend and an excellent musician and has already been replacing me and Ville F. on several occasions.

Thank you Niilo, Ville and Markus for a decade of good times and a lifetime of friendship and unforgettable memories. And thank you all Insomnium fans, it is you who made this all possible! See you on the coming shows!

Yours,
Ville Vänni

The band have left the following message:

We all want to thank Ville for everything and totally support him with his decision. We’ve been together for ten years with this line-up and it has been a great ride. We’ve been a band of brothers, we’ve been a family. Nothing will ever change that.

This is the beginning of a new era for Insomnium. Sometimes a change is needed to keep the band going. Luckily we have got the best possible man to fill the vacancy, our good friend Markus Vanhala, who is best known as the songwriter and lead guitarist of Omnium Gatherum. Markus will naturally continue in Omnium Gatherum and unfortunately our tour schedules collide in November when OG is participating the Neckbreaker’s Ball. As a result, we’ll have Tuomas Jäppinen as a second guitarist for the first seven evenings of the tour. Tuomas is also our old buddy and he is best known as the songwriter and lead guitarist of Enter My Silence. Tuomas is doing us a huge favour in delivering a killer show every night. So, make sure Tuomas feels welcomed when he hits the stage! Markus will join our ranks in München and play all the German shows on the tour.

Dear friends, do not take these news too heavily. Insomnium is not dying or withering away – we will be stronger than ever and we will keep touring and making new music. Give Ville Vänni the kind of farewell shows he deserves and come to see us perform in Joensuu on Nov 4th and Helsinki on Nov 5th. Then come and meet the new gang on the Euro Tour. See you soon!

- Insomnium

Personally, I’m shocked; but Markus is a fantastic choice to fill Ville’s shoes.

insomnium.net

Jope has already been on a bunch of gigs with the band as a session live member since [...]]]> Omnium Gatherum have now announced that Joonas “Jope” Koto has officially joined the band as a new guitarist and clean backing vocalist. This means that OG is back to having that twin guitar assault again!

Jope has already been on a bunch of gigs with the band as a session live member since Harri Pikka left over a year ago. He has also played with Markus in another band, Malpractice for a number of years.

Joonas’ statement:

“After two years as a session guitarist the guys finally asked me to join OMNIUM GATHERUM and I didn’t hesitate one second! From the get-go I have felt like part of a family. The guys are very great as persons and professional as musicians. I’m very happy and proud to be a part of such a great band of brothers.”

OMNIUM GATHERUM’s statement:

“Welcome sir, we salute you!”

Omnium Gatherum asked Joonas to become an official member on stage during their performance at last week’s gig on Finland’s Sauna Open Air festival, where the band was opening directly for Ozzy Osbourne.

Next OMNIUM GATHERUM summer festivals will be:

18.06. Kotkarock Festival, Kotka, Finland
01.07. With Full Force Open Air, Germany
16.07. Ilosaarirock Festival, Joensuu, Finland
22.07. Tuska Open Air, Helsinki, Finland
29.07. Qstock Festival, Oulu, Finland
06.08. Kokkolarock Festival, Kokkola, Finland

After that the band will head to Finnish club tour in September and “Neckbreakers Ball” European tour in October/November with Dark Tranquillity, Eluveitie, Death Angel, Varg and Mercenary. See the video below for the Neckbreakers Ball Trailer…

The band’s most recent album, “New World Shadows” was released in February 2011.

omniumgatherum.org
facebook.com/omniumgatherumband

A pre-order package for the new album is available here.

omniumgatherum.org

Check out the Omnium Gatherum board on the Loucifer [...]]]> Omnium Gatherum have unleashed the official video for “Soul Journeys” – a track from their soon-to-be-released album “New World Shadows”. The video can be viewed below:

A pre-order package for the new album is available here.

omniumgatherum.org

Check out the Omnium Gatherum board on the Loucifer Speaks forum by clicking here

I don’t like to show too much favouritism when it comes to bands on this site, but there are certain bands get me all excited and leave me acting like a gibbering wreck… Omnium Gatherum are a perfect example of this! So it gives me great pleasure to share the following news with [...]]]>

I don’t like to show too much favouritism when it comes to bands on this site, but there are certain bands get me all excited and leave me acting like a gibbering wreck… Omnium Gatherum are a perfect example of this! So it gives me great pleasure to share the following news with you:

OMNIUM GATHERUM will release the fifth album “New World Shadows” via Lifeforce Records on the following dates:

Finland, Sweden, Hungary: February 9, 2011
Germany, Austria, Switzerland: February 4, 2011
Rest Of Europe: February 7, 2011
North America: March 1, 2011

“New World Shadows” track listing:
01. Everfields (9:17)
02. Ego (4:07)
03. New World Shadows (6:00)
04. Soul Journeys (4:54)
05. Nova Flame (4:10)
06. An Infinite Mind (5:43)
07. Watcher Of The Skies (4:17)
08. The Distance (3:59)
09. Deep Cold (9:29)

The CD was recorded at Astia Studio 2 in Lappeenranta & OmG Studio in Karhula, Finland with Teemu Aalto, and was mixed and mastered at Unisound Studio in Örebro, Sweden by Dan Swanö (EDGE OF SANITY, OPETH, KATATONIA, DISSECTION, HAIL OF BULLETS, BLOODBATH etc.).

The new album includes also some guest features from Dan Swanö (Nightingale/Star One/ex-Edge Of Sanity/ex-Bloodbath etc.) who’s singing some clean vox, Niilo Sevänen (Insomnium) growling few screams& Mikko “Monni” Reinamo (Kaihoro / Wolftrap) who’s punishing some organs there!

Regarding the material for the bands forthcoming CD, OMNIUM GATHERUM previously said in a statement, “This time we really put a lot of time and effort on the pre-production of the stuff. It’s going to be an epic and massive attack of ever-flowing stream of Finnish ‘melodic death metal,’ straight from the souls of black.”

“This is the album I’ve been wanting to do for years” says J. “Here it is, the OG’s musical evolution and career of 15 years in metal and this album surely is finally the musical diamond what we were starting to chase once we started this band, finally every piece of the puzzle are here and the notes on the right places! This is northern death
metal without limitations, really melodic and intelligent but still aggressive while quoting lines from prog to even AOR and no less than having also my teenage idol sir Dan Swanö himself singing some stuff here, like we say it – this is adult oriented death metal in it’s most epic, melodic & purest form!” says Markus.

More news about pre-orders & everything soon!
-[the OG's]-

The above information was taken from the band’s official website.

omniumgatherum.org

The guys from Omnium Gatherum are currently working on their new album, the follow up to “The Redshift”. Below you will see an excerpt from the studio diary (on this occasion written by vocalist, J – with the last part written by the band’s guitarist, Markus).

“THE VOCALISATION!
Day 1
I [...]]]>

The guys from Omnium Gatherum are currently working on their new album, the follow up to “The Redshift”. Below you will see an excerpt from the studio diary (on this occasion written by vocalist, J – with the last part written by the band’s guitarist, Markus).

“THE VOCALISATION!
Day 1
I woke up to a beautiful day. Had my morning coffee as usual and thought that today was finally here. I was on my way to do my part on the new OG- album. I was excited because I really had the urge to pour out the new material which was now ready to be recorded. I’d been writing a lot of lyrics for this one which was kind of strange because I usually have a free flow of thoughts which I write down immediately and that is the beginning concept for the song in question. Of course I had had a lot of flashes of inspiration for these songs as well but the amount of lyrics amazed me. The songs for the album had been coming to my direction for over a year now and every time I heard a new one, I had at least three ideas concerning this song in the light of the wider concept of the album. Still there was no difficulty to weed out the half-ready stuff and the material transmuted easily into brilliant OG-songs. I arrived to our rehearsal place, “the wooden-palace” or “mani-talo”, in Karhula which the guys had been transformed into a studio. I felt a cosy feeling about the fact that the recording happened in our own premises. Teemu and Markus were there to welcome me. They had been doing some guitars and were just finishing up. I settled in while Teemu prepared the recording- room suitable for singing. Everything was ready but when we started to record we quick noticed that there was something wrong in the microphone. The sound wasn’t coming out properly. Teemu tried to fix it awhile but it seemed there was nothing to do. So we had no choice but to get another one tomorrow and start then. Teemu was a bit disappointed because he really digged the sound of that mic. So we dropped Teemu to his place and went to Markuse’s place. I quickly went to bed to get a fresh start the next day.

Day 2
After a quick breakfast we went to pick up Teemu and the new mic. Everything was ready in the studio from yesterday and I started to open my voice. I’d brought my acoustic guitar with me and just played and sung untill I felt my voice was opening up. The first song I chose to do was a mammoth track called “Everfields”. This nine minute melodic giant is lyrically one my favourites in the album. One side of the lyrics is about this vast region of existence where everything is in a harmonious level and manifests itself visually as a never-ending horizon in every direction. It is like an infinite self-sustaining universe of stilness. “Everfields” is also about the fact that one can face every situation in life with a calmness in the heart. It is a story about discovering something that was always there. That is why in the chorus one asks the question in retrospective: “Where was my heart?”. There was no real problem in recording “Everfields”. It is a low paced song and tecnichally not so challenging. We added some whispering parts to the second verse which turned out really nice. After that it was time to get some food and we went to pick some from the store neaby. I also bought a couple of beers for the evening which is always nice! The second track I did was a song called “The distance”. On the contrary to “Everfields” this song is fast especially the verses have a lot fast tempo singing. I struggled a bit with the fast paced pronounciation but was able to tame the song after a few runs. Lyrically “The distance” is about seeing the world as it is. A perfect place full of imperfection. One has to understand the idea of this paradox to be able to comprehend his or her own actions in relation with the rest of the existence. It is, in fact, a rather joyous ride to self-exploration.

Day 3
It was time to get busy. After the problem with the mic we’d lost a day. I decided to pace things up a bit. Instead of two songs I’d record three. The guys had done such an excellent job with the songs so it was only matter of concentration for me. A song I did first is called “The Nova flame”. This is a song that has that typical OG-handcrafted charm. Aggressive but still melodic as hell! I really enjoyed recording this song. I had came up with an intresting solution rhytmically in comparison to the two earlier”Flame songs”. Also lyrically it sums up the whole trilogy. I am not going to go here on explaining how the songs are connected lyrically. It is all there for everyone who sees it. The song individually on the other hand is a big cheer to the living-spirit. A celebration of life, if you will. It has this subttle taste of laughter in it and that is always good. Still there is much more to the lyrics of this particular song. Dig deep to fly high friends! The next on the line was a song called “Ego”. This is also a rather typical OG-tune. Fast melodic burst of metal. This one had been coming to me in different forms and at one point I was wondering is this song even going to appear in the album. I’m glad it did. The way the song carries itself is just mind-lifting. Punk-ass bastard-metal!! “Ego” is all about strenght. How one is able to carry oneself with dignity and not be bothered with petty insults or other foul-smelling shit that is unfortunately so common in the world. “Ego” as a tittle is an interesting one. It is also a Tibetan word meaning “Can you understand”. Last one for day three was a song called “New world shadows”. It is one of my favourites in the album. The structure of the song is just so enjoyable and rather ingenious in my opinion. In the “New world shadows” it is discovered that the so called “new world” is but a term amongst others and that one must not seach the shadows too far. It also praises the self- determination that one gets from beeing able to stand straight. It applaudes to every situation in life. One can really make the shadows dance.

Day 4
Now that I’ve gotten three songs out of the way yesterday I felt good and decided to go with the flow. I would do three songs that day if I felt like it, otherwise I would save the last one for the last day. I chose a song titled “Soul Journeys” to be recorded first. This song contains certain amount of sadness in it. Still it is full of hope. It is quite interesting that the two are not so unlike when deeply recodniced. It is the longing found in them both that bears a similar scent. So I had two to go. At this point I could’ve gone either way, one or two, it didn’t matter. Well I recorded one song that day called “An infinite mind”. There is not much to say about this one. We did some delicious speaking-parts to the verses and added also a deep crowl to the second verse. We didn’t use any effects when constructing these and that was excellent because I am all against using effects when they serve no purpose. I don’t have anything to say about these lyrics. U either get them or U don’t .

Day 5
The last day and the last song. Yea! I had saved the best for the last. For me this particular song has no comparison in the album. For me this really is the “best song”. I don’t usually have one song that climbs so far above the others but in this album I do and “The deep cold” is just that. The others songs are exellent too of course but there is something in this song that tickles me the right way. “The deep cold” is basically about the fact that one must be able to grow beyond the boundaries of known limits to be able to rule of the fluxuations of life. It is movement in a sense. I hope you have enjoyed the ride. I had fun and was happy to open up the lyrics for you guys a bit. Of course your own interpretations are the most important but I hope this shines some light to the questions you might have.

-over and out-
-J-/OG

The Special Bonus Day
During sitting on the sofa in the middle of listening Jukka’s growling and having some coffee moments with “local heroes”, we had a special idea and decided to add some shouting choir = mullikuoro spices to the fast song called “EGO”. So, we did a fast call to Niilo of Insomnium, who is living very near here and asked him to do some guest shouts also to that song with us. Niilo asked “when?” and we answered “wellll, uhhhm, NOW right away!?, you don’t need to hear the song!”. And soon the master himself arrived to the studio and shouted few screams before he was busy to leave to Germany next day to tour with Dark Tranquillity. Quick stop, thanks man!
Also our beloved lighting engineer Olli Liukkonen had “the honour” to guest on the mullikuoro thing, and other members of this new art vocal team was me and Aapo and we did some bloody shouts with a big heart! Do it!
Last vocal parts will be made by mister Dan Swanö in Sweden during the album mixing sessions, and surely it’s going to be a killer feature to the stuff!!!
So, vox done here and some geetar parts and synth parts were still to be done..
Later,
-Markus”

Read the full blog by clicking here.

omniumgatherum.org

I’m so excited about this album!

Click here for the Omnium Gatherum board on the Loucifer Speaks forum.

Here’s a excerpt from the latest entry:

And heeeere we go again! Jarmo banged all his drum parts easily & furiously and Teemu catched all the magical parts on tape.

It’s about time to [...]]]> Loucifer Speaks favourites Omnium Gatherum are keeping fans updated on the progress of their forthcoming 5th album via their online blog.

Here’s a excerpt from the latest entry:

And heeeere we go again! Jarmo banged all his drum parts easily & furiously and Teemu catched all the magical parts on tape.

It’s about time to head back to good ol’ Karhula and record some geetar parts next at OmG / Moneyhouse studio.

The full blog (with loads of photos! ) can be viewed here.

omniumgatherum.org

Loucifer Speaks favourites Omnium Gatherum have just signed with Lifeforce Records and will be entering the studio towards the end of August to record their next album and the band have hinted at what’s in store for us this time around:

It’s going to be an epic and massive attack of ever-flowing stream of [...]]]>

Loucifer Speaks favourites Omnium Gatherum have just signed with Lifeforce Records and will be entering the studio towards the end of August to record their next album and the band have hinted at what’s in store for us this time around:

It’s going to be an epic and massive attack of ever-flowing stream of Finnish ‘melodic death metal,’ straight from the souls of black

The album should be available early 2011.

Omnium Gatherum have released the following statement regarding the signing:

After a lot of consideration and negotiating with many parties, we came to a conclusion that Lifeforce is the way to go! They’ve been showing the right kind of interest in us for some time now and it seems that they have the same honest attitude towards music and mayhem as we do.

The band will also be touring with Dark Tranquillity in Finland this winter.

omniumgatherum.org
myspace.com/omniumgatherum