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OMNIKOLOSS “Quantum Fleshdrive”
OMNIKOLOSS “Quantum Fleshdrive”
By Dr. Abner Mality
The merger of black metal and dark industrial is really a no-brainer, but has yielded mixed results over the years. OMNIKOLOSS, a band of German origin who nevertheless have issued two prior albums, is the latest to take a crack at it. “Quantum Fleshdrive” shows just how hard it is to do a strong black metal/dark electronic record all the way through.
In what seems to be a trend this year, they kick things off with the longest track, “Omnisyndrom Alpha 17”, which cracks the whip with furiously glacial black metal for the first half of its 12 minute length. If you listen hard, you can hear some synth bubbling beneath the surface. About half way through, the synths take over and we get an eerie outer space soundtrack mixed with twangy guitar. Vocals are heavily processed and obnoxious. The track is actually not bad considering its length and I actually like the more atmospheric second half better. Then we get “Invisible Eruptions” and this is where the FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY/SKINNY PUPPY side takes over with EBM beats and a sound like the Borg have decided to start a band. Not bad if you like this kind of music, but nothing revolutionary and longer than it needs to be.
Then we get nine minutes of misery with “Splitmind”, who crawls and meanders like a naked mole rat making its way through the dirt. I know OMNIKOLOSS are actually aiming to create a miserable song but there’s such a thing as too much success. This is pretty boring and not pleasant to spend time with in the least. In a burst of crazy irony, the shortest track “Nectere” is by far the most powerful on the album. Really heavy and aggressive black metal almost in BLUT AUS NORD vein, frosted with just enough electronics to make it interesting. But it comes in at just under two minutes and from there, this album gets really bad, as “Liquid Dreams” is a slow paced track that really drags. Again, how much misery can you stand? The album ends with a complete waste of almost four minutes called “Artificial End” and the less said about this crap, the better.
So a completely mixed album from OMNIKOLOSS and a frustrating one as well. The strong bits are enough to make me believe in the potential of the band while the weak bits outpace them. If you like dark industrial, add a point.
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