13th June 2021

Review: “OMNI” by Another Now

Having conquered festivals like Jera On Air, Popronde and Submit Fest as well as opening for Ice Nine Kills at a sold out show in Amsterdam during 2019, the stage was very much set for Dutch Metalcore act Another Now. They kicked off 2020 with a bang in the form of triple single “Distance” before the touring breaks were slammed firmly on, leaving them no choice but to return to the studio; they had unfinished demos from as far back as 2019 with experiments that saw them dabbling with adding electronics into their sound. Knowing that fortune favours the brave and taking inspiration from bands like Northlane, Bad Omens and While She Sleeps, Stef Rikken (lead vocals), Miquell Kleuters – (guitar, backing vocals), Guyon Kleuters (drums), Max van Esch (guitar) and Rik Bosmans (bass) got to work. The result is “OMNI“, produced and mixed in house by Bosmans with Darius van Helfteren of Amsterdam Mastering (Epica, Noisia, De Staat) doing the mastering…

…for the most part its fair to say that extremes have a tendency to push out over time and with “OMNI” have created something that feels like the band are pushing their boundaries while pushing a genre envelope. Stylistically there are easy comparisons with Palisades 2013 album “Outcasts” and a fair amount of the discography of We Came As Romans, the clean vocals of Rik Bosmans adding distinctive melody to the savage uncleans of Stef Rikken. The extremes are contained within each cut so for example “Cascade” has punchy moments of Deathcore brutality while also on the other side of the same coin also having programming and harmonious clean vocal parts; the flow between those moments being very slick as the overall sound is based upon pace and energy. “Trojan” then throws down the rap screams and brings so many breakdowns that a fleet of tow trucks are required to clean up the mess, again escaping the trappings of slowing down for the clean vocal moments by maintaining the bounce factor. Arguably a couple of notches too heavy for Punk Goes Pop and Fearless Records, the overall sound of Another Now is certainly commercial enough for the band to have mass appeal, they certainly have a sound that suits festivals and arenas. But then “Decisions” has a moment that goes from crushing Deathcore to clean sung Emo in a heartbeat.

Picking up the pace mid album with “Program” which echoes Crystal Lake with some heavy end DJent vibes is a really nice touch before almost a complete 360 for “Vapors” which has distinctive Linkin Park stylistic leanings with break beats and a gloriously rich melody. What Another Now do very well is shoehorn into each track plenty of ideas so you get with each metaphorical bite something different to the point where if you heard two different parts from within the same song you’d struggle to believe they were the same band, let alone the same song on the same album. There are very few moments where the two vocalists have their vocals layered together but “Hollow” does that and the result is incredible while the oriental touches on “We Died At Least A Thousand Times” the cut that features the albums only guitar solo, are mesmerising. The biggest compliment, is how they have managed to keep everything balanced; there are moments when they go heavy enough to frighten off listeners who will like the more melodic moments, but they still manage to reel them back in. Perhaps for some with “OMNI” the band have created something of a guilty pleasure, something that might end up being a gateway into heavier realms for some listeners. Full on, full throttle Electronicore from the very start, this one leaves no room for breathing with slab after slab of prime textures [8.5/10]

Track listing