OMNIO

The entire Post/Experimental Metal genre is often very hit and miss, finding a great album amongst the crowds can sometimes be difficult. Luckily, there's still times when something will jump out and drag you under with its intense moods and almost evil music. In The Woods' second album, Omnio does just that. If you're not familiar with the music itself, In The Woods is a terribly dark band that plays some very heavy stuff. The tone is low, and so is the speed of the album - that is - until it reaches its speed and death metal sections. Truly, this is a very eclectic album in terms of styles, and yet they all mix together so well that the album really comes into a style of its own. It would be very difficult to compare this band with any other, but if forced to pick one might say they sound like an evil version of Riverside with some Tool-esque qualities and some decidedly Pink Floyd moments.

The album is full of twists and turns, and this is what keeps it alive and interesting. Most of the songs on the album deal with enormous speed changes, moving from 0 to 1000 miles an hour in a split second and then back again. The slow parts usually deal with simplistic and emotional string sections while the heavy parts often employ an impressive double kick section and some blistering guitars. A pure example of this is the album's most celebrated song, the opener - 299 796 Km/S - which sets the tone for the album well by making use of these dramatic switches along with some operatic female vocals that really help to take things up a notch. The string sections are always oh-so sad sounding, and in contrast with the incredibly heavy, fast moving sections they make for a very awakening song. This is used again and again throughout the album, always in a new and refreshing way so that things never get too samey and yet still stick to an established theme. I Am Your Flesh is the first to show off the impressive death metal scream that's used a few more times over the course of the album which leads into another pounding, quick session with racing drums and guitars.

A lot of the album can be easily described as ''creepy,'' making for an unsettling, but amazing listen. Kairos! is a good demonstration of this with its mono-guitar opening reverberating into the listener's head. Vocals on this track are strictly female and its slow riffs make for an impressive build. Weeping Willow combines the styles of all the tracks before it to make for a very chilling tune with some more blistering moments. Chugging guitar riffs make for an impressive and memorable 12-minutes.

Of course a lot of people are likely wondering about the title track. This could likely be considered the band's own Karn Evil 9, not in style of course, more in structure and length. The 26-minute long epic that dominates the latter half of the album is split into three parts and each one is highly impressive. Omnio? - Pre is the longest of the bunch and features everything the band did well to this point. An ambient opening gives way to more heavy riffs, the female vocals are back with a vengeance and they've become more operatic as they do. Omnio? - Bardo is a spacey and ambient instrumental reminiscent of a metal version of Pink Floyd, the haunting track makes a triumphant build until it explodes with another well placed death metal scream into the final part of the song. Omnio? - Post reprises Pre with some of the themes stated there such as lyrical content and some of the instrumental melodies as well as introducing a very nice harmonized male vocal section which really chills the spine. Eventually it all comes to a cataclysmic finish and resonates to a stop.

This is a highly impressive album which gets high recommendations to anyone who's looking for something a little bit heavier and a little bit (or a lot) darker. Definitely not feel-good music, this is something for a rainy, stormy day. 4 Weeping Willows out of 5 - an excellent album.

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