Review: Omnium Gatherum – May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way

October 27, 2025

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It can all be water under the bridge

It’s pretty rare for a band with Omnium Gatherum’s longevity to stay the course the way they have. Many of the band’s contemporaries have changed their sound one or two times over the course of a few decades, perhaps to reach for a greater commercial appeal or even to experiment for the fear of being perceived as resting on their laurels. Omnium Gatherum have remained sonically steadfast while still managing to improve upon production values, performance abilities, and overall songwriting skills with nearly each new release. In short, they’ve always seemed to know what they do best and they’ve seemed glad to keep doing it.

Even reliably consistent bands like Omnium Gatherum can hit slumps, as evidenced by their previous full-length, 2021’s Origin, which sounded uninspired and sterile compared to the run of albums that preceded it. After 4 long years Omnium Gatherum are finally back with their 10th album, the interestingly titled May The Bridges We Burn Light The Way.

Don’t let the title misguide you: this album is not some sharp fork in the road where the band takes a really surprising creative turn nor does it seem to be a veiled message aimed at critics of their previous album. Instead, what Bridges gives us is a band who sounds once again inspired to deliver the best version of what they’re already known and loved for, which has sometimes been cheekily referred to as “adult-oriented death metal.”

Bridges unsurprisingly begins in a similar fashion as many of their other releases, with an instrumental intro track. In sharp contrast to Origin, the introductory title track here has a sort of bubbly and optimistic energy from the start and sets the tone for the next track, the infectious “My Pain,” where the band’s aspiration to rekindle their creative spark is abundantly clear.

The guitar riffing on this track is noticeably intricate, which is a positive sign given the recent rotating door of players in the rhythm slot. Longtime guitarist Joonas “Jope” Koto exited the band in 2020 after releasing the stellar The Burning Cold. Then the band welcomed live replacement Nick Cordle, who is a skilled player best known for his short stints in Arsis and Arch Enemy. Fast forward to early 2025, and Cordle has already left the band allowing for Koto to return to his previous position. Neither guitarist is credited on Bridges, but the notable step up in the riff department raises the question of whether either may have had a hand in the album’s writing process. Whatever the truth may be, “My Pain,”is a strong opening statement with a spirit that carries through the rest of the album.

Another standout track on Bridges is “The Darkest City,” which according to founding guitarist and only remaining original member, Markus Vanhala, was the first song written for the album. Aside from an off-putting outro that would have been better left on the cutting room floor, the song is a prime example of Omnium Gatherum firing on all cylinders as they balance gruff and saccharine clean vocals, hurl percussive guitar riffs interlaced with bouncy harmonized melodies, and weave dreamy interludes drenched in effects; all of their usual elements are here in top form. The song’s chorus is even reminiscent of Soilwork‘s best early-2000’s work, which is certainly no accident because Björn “Speed” Strid himself co-produced the vocal recording sessions for Bridges.

“Walking Ghost Phase” is perhaps the strongest example of the band embracing their “adult-oriented death metal” tag. You really can hear the sonic DNA of bands like Journey and synth-era Rush; the memorable keyboard vamps that repeat through the song cast images of Geddy Lee in a shoulder padded blazer with a teased mullet. Vocal co-producer Strid, who may even be one of the progenitors of AODM with Soilwork, also lends some gang vocals during the song’s pre-chorus.

Having followed Omnium Gatherum for most of their career, I’m confident to say that Bridges ranks among their best albums so far. Despite the creative ups and downs the band has endured over their 10 albums, Bridges signals that we could be back on the upswing. When they’re inspired, Omnium Gatherum can be really exciting to listen to, even if it’s not the most innovative music you could reach for (not everything needs to be innovative). That being said, by the end of this album I was still left wanting more from Bridges. Specifically, the album has two bookending instrumental songs out of a total of 9. While neither track is bad per-se, they don’t feel necessary and I wish bands would stop including them altogether. Regardless, the 7 full-band songs that remain are fantastic.

Hopefully Bridges is the spark that will light a fire (or burn a bridge) under Omnium Gatherum’s asses to deliver a truly great next album.