Grey Heavens

''Grey Heavens'' is the seventh full-length studio album of Finnish melodic death metal band Omnium Gatherum. It was released on February 17, 2016 in Japan via Avalon Marquee, February 19 in Finland, and February 26 in the rest of Europe via Lifeforce. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics.

Production

It is the band's last album with Lifeforce, as they would later sign a deal with Century Media Records (which released ''Grey Heavens'' in America) for subsequent releases, as well as their last with longtime drummer Jarmo Pikka, who initially left temporarily for a paternity leave, with Tuomo Latvala filling in, but eventually, Pikka's departure was made permanent and Latvala was promoted to being a full-time member.

Reception

''Grey Heavens'' received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. However, Andy Synn of No Clean Singing criticised the album, saying that while "it positively crackles with the band’s patented musical magic, driven by the same passion and energy that made ''The Redshift'', ''New World Shadows'', and ''Beyond'' such thrilling, electrifying albums, ably accented by characteristic tinges of proggy melancholy and shamelessly extravagant fretboard theatrics", the album "limps rather than gallops along, with a much more uneven gait, hamstrung and prevented from reaching its full potential by a nagging feeling of over-familiarity and a sense of “been there, done that” which lingers like a vaguely unpleasant odour."

Track listing

Personnel

*Jukka Pelkonen – vocals
*Markus Vanhala – guitar
*Joonas "Jope" Koto – guitar
*Aapo Koivisto – keyboards
*Erkki Silvennoinen – bass
*Jarmo Pikka – drums

Production
*Produced by Markus Vanhala and Teemu Aalto
*Mixed and Mastered by Dan Swanö
*Artwork by Olli Lappalainen

References

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2016 albums
Albums produced by Dan Swanö
Omnium Gatherum albums
Lifeforce Records albums