ALBUM REVIEW: OMNI – Another Now

Despite the sub-genre being in a better state than it was, say, ten years ago, metalcore promos tend to have an air of tiring familiarity. Like the world’s least inventive Kinder Surprise egg, once you’ve peeled back the promo doors you’re likely to find some chunky riffs, vocals of both a harsh and clean nature and the odd filthy breakdown here and there; metalcore’s bread and butter. Keep in mind that there’s nothing inherently wrong with this. Having said that, it’s encouraging to see acts like ANOTHER NOW viciously breaking the mould and doing so with very little warning. With a mere handful of singles to their name, the band emerges with their debut LP, OMNI, and, most excitingly, is at its best when refusing to stick to conventions: prepare your neck.

While no one will be handing out awards for ‘cutting observations’, considering this is a music review, we must first discuss how OMNI sounds – the crux of ANOTHER NOW’s triumphant first outing. While big names in the industry have brought electronics into the fray, they’ve rarely sounded quite as heavy as OMNI. While the beautifully abrasive riffs of steel and iron are as brutal as they come – produced and mixed by the band’s own Rik Bosmans – it’s the grinding contortion of the record’s electronic touches that give it its selling point. 2020’s Underneath from CODE ORANGE challenged the rest of the metal world to produce the most insidious noises possible, and ANOTHER NOW are more than worthy to assume the mantle. 

Opener Parallax, Program and Decisions are perfect examples. Upon the moment of its ravenous breakdown, the former explodes into what could only be described as an electronic buzzsaw beatdown interspersed with hair-raising instances of silence that are shattered by the roar of Miquell Kleuters’ guitar. These moments of angular electronic assault come sparingly to steer OMNI clear of being a one-trick pony, but are certainly some of the record’s highlights and will prove useful in picking the band out from a saturated crowd. 

In saying this, ANOTHER NOW would still be in strong contention of making a worthy record without the array of glitching hisses and scratches. Parallax, Cascade and Trojan reveal OMNI in a hat trick of versatility that covers territories as far-flung as Metroid Prime-esque sci-fi notes, soaring hooks, nu-metal riffing, a hailstorm of staccato vocals and enough whiplash to make a car crash look like a funfair ride. Thankfully, the band makes it their duty to ensure this feeling of variety translates throughout OMNI’s 40-minute runtime. Outflow dabbles in the croons of post-hardcore, Laika gradually flirts with progressive elements as the madness unfolds, and Vapors allows for a moment of respite where tranquil lead guitar flutters softly over a liquid drum ‘n’ bass-led rhythm; a welcome surprise as the band flexes their creative muscles. 

All of this is topped off by fantastic performances, especially from vocalist Stef Rikken’s corner, who seems on a mission to find a thousand different ways to burst your eardrums. He is also lent a number of helping hands from an eclectic platter of pipes, with DISTANT’s Alan Grnja savaging the scene on Program, and Julia R providing a constant air of sanctity for the record’s closer; yet another thing to give the band’s debut a badge of authority.

On paper, ANOTHER NOW have fashioned a smorgasbord of angle-grinding mayhem, but OMNI never feels like a product of too many cooks; it is a well-oiled and well-balanced machine that, despite its sophisticated construction, will still brutalise you if given half the chance. 

ANOTHER NOW don’t quite come away from such a feat entirely unscathed, however. The teething stages have left their mark and unfortunately, the price comes at the aforementioned folly of predictability. Kleuters’ clean vocals are certainly strong, but at the album’s mid-point the hooks do begin to blend together and what should be the songs’ defining moments begin to fall into obscurity. No greater is this found on the track Hollow, which offers little of its own DNA to warrant its position on the record. If it were culled, OMNI could have been a far more succinct package all around.

But, as the gentle shimmering of We Died At Least A Thousand Times is drawn to a close, these slight hitches are all but forgiven. OMNI is far from being the jack of all trades, master of none. This is an auspicious first leap into the deep end for a group that find it difficult to put a foot wrong. If OMNI was intended as a shot in the dark to see what would stick, then the quintet now has a wealth of springboards at their disposal to launch their next phase. It will be very difficult to predict what is next for ANOTHER NOW but, in all honesty, that’s probably for the best. 

Rating: 8/10

OMNI is set for release on June 16th via self-release.

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