Omnium Gatherum, In Mourning & Heidra - Baroeg Rotterdam, 18 October 2019

In Mourning are among my favorite Progressive Death Metal bands. If they come touring in support of Omnium Gatherum I want to see that double. The evening would be opened by Heidra from Denmark unknown to me. As In Mourning already impressed us twice at ProgPower Peter, Ron & Astrid joined me to Rotterdam. I arrived early and was afraid that huge competition these days would result in a very empty Baroeg. That normalized later on a bit.

First band Heidra came on and I saw five men with lots of hair under their noses and on their chin, but none on their heads. The FB event said they play folk / black / power metal and all three could be heard at times indeed. Not really music I must own on CD, but live pretty nice to watch. Unfortunately at first beers, because somehow this music mixes best with lots of alcohol I think. The playing was ok, but the clean power metal vocals were with a bit too much pathos for my taste. One guitarist would not apologize anyone not clapping along, so they got the place moving. Warmed up we were.

Now it was a short wait for In Mourning. I discovered them at their first PPE visit, when they just released Monolith. Next album The Weight Of Oceans tour did hit Holland at Brainstorm I believe, but I missed out. Hereafter they released Afterglow and blew us away in Baarlo again. Two weeks ago they released their new album Garden of Storms. I thought I would be picking up my copy at the show, but they were sold out on CD. When In Mourning started I could see why CD's sold out. They managed to convince many not knowing them yet, with a very strong set. Having 50 minutes in their case means only six songs. They passed all four albums, so that was good. What I like best about them is the fact they hold three guitarists and they use that smartly. So when one melodic rhythm is played inbetween calmer parts, two other guitars can build up walls of sound. Also on vocals duties are shared and all is brought with a smile an a contagious enthusiasm. This show was for me Champions League of Prog Death and time flew by. Some disappointment when the last song was announced, although added was it's a huge one and the title Colossus confirms that further. This song represents the band completely Starting with slow atmospheric instrumental parts, this song builds up to become one heavy monster at times even doomy. Well In Mourning gave us even more than what I hoped for, so I now have to buy my ticket for Brainstorm festival next month, when they return to Holland. Hopefully with CD's this time as I already bought their Bordeaux Red Death Metal Tee. Earth and Sky did collide in Baroeg last night, so thank you for that.

And now Omnium Gatherum had to follow that up. I am not sure if they could do so. Well obviously to many no issues as they were the headliner. I was still a bit overwhelmed by In Mourning, but the strong openers of their last album did help me getting in the mood. Omnium Gatherum with their melo-death is a different animal and the main difference was found in the more screaming vocals. To me the weaker part in the band. Instrumentally not much to complain really and the songs were fine as well. Most solo's come from Markus Vanhala. Now I listened a lot to him over the last week as he is also in my favorite melo-death band Insomnium who just released beautiful Heart Like a Grave. Within Omnium Gatherum that beauty is not to be found, but energy and speed are all  the more present. So for me In Mourning were the high of the evening, but Omnium Gatherum definitely had it's peaks as well. One fine night of banging, just as it is meant to be in October. Already anxiously waiting for 9 November.