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[Fan Site]
Reviewed:
  1. The Pagan Prosperity (1997)
  2. Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion (1998)
  3. Revelation 666: The Curse of Damnation (2000)
Remarks:

Country: Norway

Lineup: Galder (vocals, guitars, bass, and synths) plus others

The Pagan Prosperity (1997, Century Media)

This was the first OMC album I bought (and their second release) and was I in for a surpsise! If you eliminate the black metal rasping vocals, the music is actually the type of speed/thrash metal you might hear over the radio. The simplistic arrangements are a bonus but the best has to be the stellar production---all instruments sound right and are well balanced---no murky soundscapes usually associated with BM. The album cover could benefit from a more professional approach, but the idea is good. The first and third songs are among my OMC favorites. Don't listen to anyone who tells you this band is an imitator of ... (insert another BM outfit here). The truth is Galder is more than competent and his music is far above average.

Verdict: pretty good, despite what you may have heard

 

Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion (1998, Century Media)

Lineup: Galder, Gene Hogland (drums)

Here's a band that has been suffering in silent underrated limbo for quite some time. Although extremely competent, Galder's music has been sliced and diced as pale imitation of successful BM outfits, like Dimmu Borgir. Nothing could be further from the truth. INSI is not only a decent album, it is actually a very well-crafted offering, which had a tall order to top with the preceding excellent "The Pagan Prosperity." This time, Old Man's Child is really Galder doing all the work (except the drums) himself. He composed the music, wrote the lyrics, and improvised the singing (says so on the cover). Gene has always been a very competent drummer and it shows here as well. The music is somewhat thrashy black metal, with quite a few nods to traditional heavy metal. In other words, if it weren't for the rasping vocals, this would hardly qualify as your average BM release. All for the better---a refreshing melodic aggression in an ocean of mediocrity. This album has one of my all-time favorite OMC songs: "Thy Servant," check it out.

Verdict: an extremely melodic and energetic, yet thrashy, black metal; worth the buy.

 

Revelation 666: The Curse of Damnation (2000, Century Media)

Lineup: Galder, Memnoch (bass), Tjodalv (drums), Grimor (drums), ? (guitar)

Finally, an OMC album with a decent artwork on the cover (the digipak booklet is also nicely done, except it is not very readable). The critics have spoken and the verdict is in---OMC is now a Dimmu Borgir clone, and a poorly done one at that. Unfortunately, the critics are not entirely wrong for a change. Gone is the trademark OMC sound, the aggressive thrash, with melodic guitars, and BM vocals. It has been replaced by synths galore, and the sound production is now muddled, a blatant rip-off of the symphonic BM style that Dimmu Borgir plays. Tjodalv has never been a good drummer, I don't understand how someone can replace Gene with him. The compositions are not as tight as they used to be, they are less structured, and seem to go on forever, with abrupt unwarranted changes, much like DB's "Spiritual Black Dimensions" (which itself was worse than "Enthrone..."). To top it off, Galder can't even come close in the singing department, his voice is much better suited for OMC's previous direction. Although the album is a quite above average, and although it has at least several very strong songs (like the superb "Passage to Pandemonium"), it is a mild disappointment compared to their previous release. I hope Galder sees this.

Verdict: symphonic black metal, in the vein of the new Dimmu Borgir and the old Covenant.