Published: February 4, 2021

Sometimes you really must stand outside of that comfort zone and challenge your aural senses. With my preferences dipping into a good bit of doom, I didn’t think that Omination’s latest release would present too much difficulty. But then I checked the band’s history and the lights dimmed. Tunisian Apocalyptic Funeral Doom Metal loomed large. Omination’s debut album Followers Of The Apocalypse ran for over 90 minutes. The second full length The Whirlpool Of Ignorance, also released in 2018 contained a slightly easier 53 minutes … but it only comprised four songs. In 2020 their EP The Pale Horseman was one track. It lasted 26 minutes. Having established that I was in for the long haul, I settled down to experience the band for the first time. I think experience is the best word for Omination because it best describes what followed. 

Two tracks lasted over ten minutes whilst the title song clocked in at a massive 20 minutes. Huge swathes of church organs and soaring choirs battle with a thunderous bass drum as the album opened with the dramatic Crossing The Burning Wasteland. Vocals that appeared to blend Sakis Tolis and Nergal erupt into a storming fireball of rage. They surface and then continue on Apocalyptic Ignis Fatuus. If one song ever epitomised Apocalyptic Funeral Doom Metal, then this would be it. Harrowing, disturbing, stunning, and explosive all at the same time. The haunting echoing keyboards drift in a ghostly fashion, the choral effects and the huge organ chords combine with darkened guitar riffs to create an atmospheric concept impossible to ignore. Blasts of black metal surged out of the black, before the pace slows to the glacial pace that had preceded it. 

Over the next 70 minutes Omination slowly, and I mean slowly, crawl and blast their way through huge time changes, murderous mixing of styles, soaring melodies combined with huge banks of church organ, chanting, and pounding drums. There is no way to describe each track, but this whole experience is moving, emotional and almost spiritual in parts. There is no way to prepare for the sheer scale of the title track, which is strategically placed to anchor the whole album. It is a beast of a song, at 20 minutes long it moves with the pace of a Brachiosaurus herd until the final minutes when it speeds up with astonishing pace. Drenched with all the formerly described input, the cultural influences are rich and welcoming. 

And then there is a volley of blistering blast beats that last mere seconds, like a sudden hailstorm, before the tempo drops and solo notes ring out once more. At no time during this album does anything feel comfortable. The riffs are abrasive, the atmospheric feel tingling the skin and bewitching in equal measure. It’s a difficult listen, but the rewards are worth it. If you can tolerate the sheer intensity of this work, then absorbing oneself into The New Golgotha Repvbliq is an amazing and wondrously blackened experience.