Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum & Besomora - gig review

It was a night of powerful, melodic death metal when Finnish powerhouses Insomnium and omnium gatherum performed at the metro theatre, Sydney, supported by their melodic death metal peers, Besomora. For fans of guttural growling and mighty, crowd-penetrating hard vocals, this was an insanely enjoyable night. Let's take a deep dive into the performances and relive the night...

Photography by Sarah french - shvrkyvisuals

Besomora kicked off the night with an energy-intense performance. The synchronized head banging and exaggerated facial expressions had the crowd completely immersed in their set. lead vocalist, Vlad, worked the crowd as electric guitar riffs penetrated the metro theatre. This is exactly how you want to open a melodic death metal show. If you haven't yet had the pleasure of hearing them, you can check out their tracks here.

Besomora are a four piece Sydney-based metal band. The band played some of their classics, including vagabond, as well as some of their newer tracks like killing passion. Vlad's hard vocals set the scene for the night and the rest of the band brought vast amounts of passion to the stage. It was evident throughout the set that the boys from Besomora wanted to leave a lasting impression on the minds and ear canals of their audience.

omnium gatherum were up next with their matching black vests and old school , rockstar presence. Lead singer, Jukka Pelkonen, has some of the most impressive deep, guttural vocals I've heard. His stage presence and crowd control was felt as he spoke to the crowd, saying "you do you, so, you're metal heads so you get that, it's easy, this one is called... refining fire" as his softly spoken voice transformed into a raging growl. The guitarists performed with fluidity as they moved across the stage during the performance. At one point they came face to face, playing directly at one another as the crowd cheered them on. The set was playful, dynamic and intense from start to finish.

Omnium Gatherum have been performing for over 25 years now and while you may find that believable based on the quality of their performance, they bring an unbelievable amount of energy to the stage. The band will be touring Europe after their Australian tour, visiting countries including Germany, Spain and Romania. You can check out their discography and find out more about tour dates here.

Insomnium rounded out the night and brought it home with their set full of guttural growls, intense screams and heavy instrumentals. Vocalist Niilo Sevänen has such a deep, harsh vocal projection which is only enriched by the melodic instrumentals he's contrasted against. The electric guitar solos brought in a classic rock element. The set was topped off with immense amounts of hair flicking, head banging and screaming into the crowd.

Insomnium were founded in 1997 and have been belting out melodic death metal tunes ever since. Their performance will not easily be forgotten as they powered through a set list full of fan favourites.

They'll be touring Europe this year after finishing off their Australia and Asia tour. Check out the band's official site for more information.

Performances reviewed by Zara Fraser with photography by Sarah French (Stvrkyvisuals).