About four years ago, I reviewed Omnium Gatherum’s Origin, an album I enjoyed on first listen, but ultimately ranked lower than I expected. Two of my main issues regarding that album were its pacing and instrumentation, which, at times, was jarring, especially on multiple listens. Thus, when it was announced that the band was releasing their newest full-length, May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way (May the Bridges…), I hoped that the band would fix those previous issues and let us see a new side to their already long-spanning career. Spoiler alert: Not only does May the Bridges… resolve the issues that Origins had, but it has also invigorated them into making still-stellar melodeath.
One of the things that caught my attention early is how energetic and bright “May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way” sounds. Although I am sure the overall dynamic and tone of the album changes throughout its runtime, this theme persists. This leads straight into the second track “My Pain,” where not only do we get Jukka Pelkonen’s harsh vocals, which are always a delight, but we also get Markus Vanhala’s cleans on the track. Now, if memory serves, Markus doesn’t sing in any of the bands he’s involved with, so hearing him sing as well as he does infers that the band is evolving from the more traditional (up until this point) standard of just utilizing harsh vocals. It’s also interesting to note that his vocals also highlight that bright, energetic sound that opens the album, showcasing that the band is ready for experimentation or, at the very least, laying down the foundations for said experimentation. Tracks “Last Hero” and “The Darkest City” take their musical roots from 2018’s The Burning Cold, with its instrumentation sounding incredibly like tracks “Refining Fire” and “Be The Sky.” They are also seamless in their transition, with “Last Hero” ending and “The Darkest City” starting immediately after. Marku’s clean vocals also add texture to “The Darkest City,” making the song sound like a ballad rather than a standard riffing fest.
Also, sidenote: “Streets of Rage” sounds like it came from a melody from Cemetery Skyline’s “The Coldest Heart.” This may be due to Markus’s involvement with that supergroup, but I couldn’t help but notice the influence.
I also wanted to briefly discuss May the Bridges…’s stellar production. Say what you will about Soilwork, but having both Jens Borgen and Bjorn Strid be part of production and fostering both Jukka and Markus as vocalists is probably one of the best things to happen to Omnium Gatherum. It seems that Bjorn has quite the ear, as I think he’s probably the one who brought that brightness to this album specifically. I also love the mixing here: everything sounds clean and any jarring the instrumentation may have had is gone. May the Bridges… is simultaneously polished and has some grit in it, as if production has kept their main spirit intact. In a sense, Omnium Gatherum has been the underdog for a lot of the bigger melodeath bands out there, and the production brought that energy to the album itself. It also helps that this album is 40 minutes long, a strict departure from Origins’s 54-minute runtime. May The Bridges… is a lean machine of riffs and melodies that has no bloat and just goes straight for the hooks.
2026 has been, as I have seen it, a stellar year for legacy bands to renew their sound, granting us, for example, Amorphis’s fun Borderland. With May the Bridges…, Omnium Gatherum have not only revitalized their sound but have assuaged the fears that they had hit a wall in their run. All in all, May the Bridges… is a compelling album, showing a trend that, despite their longevity, a legacy band can still have new tricks. This may not be Beyond or The Burning Cold, but damn if it isn’t fun!
— Hera
May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way is available now on Century Media Records. For more information on Omnium Gatherum, visit their Facebook and Instagram pages.