ALBUM REVIEW: Omnivore – At The Plates
Calling your band AT THE PLATES will, naturally, raise the immediate question “is that a food-themed AT THE GATES tribute?” and you’d not be entirely wrong. While not a tribute entirely, it’s extremely obvious from a single spin that Swedish melodeath is, of course, the main ingredient to their death metal stew. Though the band have evolved over the years, from a purely instrumental, one-man project to the trio they are today, their commitment to culinary delight has never wavered, with new album Omnivore even something of a concept album dealing in all manner of food-related subjects.
Perhaps the biggest change since their debut album Starch Enemy (yes, there are many puns) is that they’re tackling more serious themes than they have before, albeit still through a lens of light-hearted lyrics and often quite daft song titles. Take opener With Their Cutlets, which starts with clicking before an ominous distorted melody seeps in. There’s a blackened menace to it, particularly the raspy vocals, tremolo picking and blast beats it regularly throws into the pot. There are plenty of screaming solos too, their style showing a clear cross-pollination of Floridian and New York death metal with moments of claustrophobia and groove.
Punish My Waistline wholeheartedly embraces its silly title, with rampaging verses that draw on early SKELETONWITCH while turning the chorus line of its title into a fist-pumping, scream-along moment with tongue planted firmly in cheek. They flirt with progressive death metal as well, with both Terminal Filet Disease and sprawling closer Northern Frites pushing over the seven-minute mark with distinct movements marked by transitions within them. The former is a slow burn start, opting for more churning heft while lyrically addressing the album’s central themes of it not being too late to change if you need or want to.
Elsewhere, Roastwell 47 takes a turn for the extra-terrestrial; sure people have dreamed about breaking into Roswell and finding out if aliens do exist, but they probably wouldn’t expect to be taken captive and forced to eat alien food. It’s got the brutality to match its grisly themes, being complemented by lacerating double bass drums and savage, occasionally dissonant riffing. A hallmark of AT THE PLATES is taking death metal tropes with a food spin on them, and that’s more or less exactly what Omnivore spends the majority of its time doing.
Omnivore doesn’t really live up to its name; while it does ingest an unhealthy amount of death metal from 1990s Sweden, there’s not too many more flavours outside of slight variations and moments of dissonance. AT THE PLATES execute it well enough, certainly, but there’s an overwhelming feeling that much of this is retreading old ground. Coupled with a 47-minute length that doesn’t really justify itself, Omnivore starts to drag like a family dinner with your racist uncle. While there are standout moments, particularly With Their Cutlets’ solo, or the progressive expanse of Northern Frites, and the song titles are certainly humorous, Omnivore is a platter that’s best taken in much smaller bites than it’s served in.
Rating: 6/10
Omnivore is set for release on January 5th via self-release.
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