The Gauntlet: Tell us a little about the new album, “The Redshift.” What were some of the concepts and ideas behind the album?

Omnium Gatherum: “The Redshift” was maybe the easiest Omnium Gatherum album to make, and the whole process was really positive, fast and easy. The whole composing and rehearsing process took like 2 or 3 months, which is really fast action for OG camp, and it seems like we’re turning into a pro ban. I’m sure that a freshness and positive new energy can be heard on the album. The album themes and concepts are about that certainty, when you reach a point in your existence that makes you transform into something new and improved. It is about going faster and yet more calmly than ever before. It is a salute to knowing oneself and the space that is around. It's about learning to live life and be happy with oneself. Some positiveness to carry on in this shitty world that demands a lot and sometimes too much from the normal people, who are turning into machines with their endless jobs, etc. It´s all about riding the red shift and we´re the redshift riders! “The Redshift” term itself is an astronomy term about the wavelength where light turns to red.

The Gauntlet: How was it working with a legendary engineer like Dan Swanö?

OG: It sure was a spirit-raising experience and influenced a lot of our songwriting proces, as we knew that Dan “the Man” was going to be working with this record mixing and mastering. He did a really good job and found soundwise exactly what we were searching for for this album. We wanted the album to sound a little bit old-school Swedish and modern in an original way all at the same time, and that’s what we got. The album doesn’t sound the same as a million other current metal albums, in my opinion. However,Ii’ve been a Swanö and Edge of Sanity fan since day one, so it sure was really cool to get him onboard!

The Gauntlet: You’re from Finland, yet you sound a lot more like a Swedish melodeath band than the popular Finnish “extreme power” style (i.e. Children of Bodom, Norther). Do you consider yourselves a “Gothenburg” style band, and what attracts you to the style you play?

OG: Well, we´ve heard this a lot. “OG is the most Swedish sounding metal band from Finland.” I guess that’s where our roots come, as we were listening to a lot of Gothenburg and Swedish metal stuff when we formed the band. Albums like “The Gallery” by Dark Tranquillity, “Subterranean” by In Flames, “Slaughter Of The Soul” by At The Gates, “Purgatory Afterlow” by Edge of Sanity were maybe the biggest influences for us to form OG at that point, as those albums really have a strong soul and high spirit and atmosphere that many bands and albums nowadays lack.

The Gauntlet: Are you into any of the current Finnish bands?

OG: Some cool bands are coming out for sure, but also a lot of not-so-cool bands. There are a HUGE amount of metal bands in this overcrowded scene. Bands like Insomnium, Diablo, Amorphis and Swallow the Sun are spending a lot time on my CD player. These bands have much more to offer than only some speedy guitar solos and synth leads and poor teenage-angry screaming vox without feeling. Cool, original stuff indeed.

The Gauntlet: You’re re-releasing a couple of your older albums with some bonus cover tracks. Which of the covers that you did are you most proud of?

OG: I just saw the re-issues and it’s a cool looking package; remastered digipaks, with lots of bonus songs, bonus photos and liner notes. There are some old demo recordings from “Woodbine Garden Sessions” 2004-2006, like the last songs we did with Antti Filppu on vocals and those recordings have a really nice groove and are maybe the best and most aggressive vocal performances from Antti. Nice to get those released also, they deserve it. There are also cover versions of “Suicide Machine” by Death, “Hangar 18” by Megadeth which are both very cool and strong versions, and then one “humorous “ version of “Moneytalks” by AC/DC. That song has a really hilarious and relaxed vibe that gets you into a good mood, so we wanted to put that on the bonuses as well to get people smiling! Metal isn’t such a serious thing after all.

The Gauntlet: Why did Janne Markkanen (bassist) elect to leave the band?

OG: There is a funny story on this one. Janne came to OG in 1997 to cover for a missing “real” bass player as a substitute. Janne was really a guitar player and he decided to play bass as long as we were looking for a “real” bass player. So, that filling in ended up going for 10 years. It was really seen for years before Janne left that he wasn’t interested in metal almost at all anymore, and he was in this band just as we were (and are) friends, so it was just time for him to move on. Eerik (Purdon) was fillingin for Janne on our South European tour as Janne was unavailable due to personal reasons back then, and then we “kind-of-found-the-REAL-bass-player” and I guess Janne saw then that it’s better for this band to get Eerik onboard…. And as the story of the “Bold and the Beautiful of Metal” continues “the real bass player” Eerik decided to leave the band after 6 months due to personal problems out of the blue. We really didn’t see that one coming, but arcane things seem to happen. Now we’re having a touring session bassist and this time we’re going to check out things smoothly and slowly with him, as the next basstard should be a long(er) time member, when we announce the official hiring.

The Gauntlet: What are your upcoming touring plans?

OG: We just finished a very successful European tour in support of Nile and Grave and it went really well, and now we’re in the middle of a Finnish tour rocking the good ol’ Finnish stages. The search is also on to find some suitable European or U.S tour slot, so hopefully we’ll be rolling the international stages more next year!

The Gauntlet: What is your favorite album of 2008 so far besides yours?

OG: Bloodbath, Gojira, Amon Amarth, Diablo and Opeth have done great metal albums this year that have had an effect on me. Mostly I’m listening to some “ancient” music stuff nowadays, though.