Interview Omnivide

Today, we're thrilled to dive into the musical odyssey of Omnivide's debut album, 'A Tale of Fire.' Join us in conversation with the band as they recount the five-year journey from conception to completion, offering insights into the album's thematic layers, diverse influences, and the evolution of Omnivide's sound.

1. Congratulations on your upcoming debut album, "A Tale of Fire." Can you tell us about the journey from the formation of Omnivide out of the Opeth Tribute project to crafting your unique sound for this album?
Thank you! Three of our members were in that Opeth Tribute project that ended in 2018. During that project, it had already been decided that some of the members wanted to write original music together and form a new band. So when the Opeth project dissolved, our 3 members got to work on writing songs and finding the other members, eventually arriving at our current lineup. The goal with the music we were writing was to infuse our favorite influences into a progressive melting pot that also had its own distinct identity, taking inspiration from bands like Obscura, The Black Dahlia Murder, Wintersun and many others. For three years we worked solely on the songwriting, defining our sound with a blend of heavy death metal riffs and clean sections organized in a progressive structure. A big ingredient of our sound that we figured out and focused on was the use of orchestral samples and synths, which we wanted to use to make our songs more epic and grandiose. This process of defining our sound continued during the recording process, which happened from 2021 to 2023, as we kept experimenting with orchestral layers and synths, guitar and bass tones, drum patterns, vocal styles and more. It was essentially a 5 year process that took us from not having any songs written to feeling satisfied with our first finished product. Our hope is that we've been able to define a sound that is unique in some aspects at least. 

2. The first single, "Holy Killer," is described as a defining track for Omnivide. Can you share more about the inspiration behind the song and how it played a role in shaping your distinctive sound?
It was one of the first songs that was finished for the album. The death metal style of riffing in the song, the presence of orchestra and synths, the progressive structure, the presence of clean sections and the guitar/synthesizer solos are all elements of the song that influenced the writing of the other songs on the album. The song was written by Nicolas, our guitarist, and having it completed early on gave us a sense of direction for what we wanted to compose next. 

3. “A Tale of Fire” is said to balance heavy, technical, and symphonic elements. How did you go about finding the right mix of these elements to create a cohesive and intriguing progressive package?
In order to have all of those elements present in our songs, it was a matter of spreading them out across the songs in a way that provided variety to the listening experience. Some of the songs themselves are on the heavier and more technical side, while others are more melodic and intricate as opposed to being technically impressive. The same thing is true within the songs as well, many songs will feature clean sections, epic sections reinforced by orchestra, and more dry/technical sections all in the same song. We tried to use this variety in intensity and style as a way to create a diverse listening experience that keeps people interested throughout the album. Since we're big fans of prog ourselves, our favorite albums have this kind of musical diversity in some shape or form, so it was natural for us to try and achieve the same aesthetic in our music.

4. The album is described as a musical journey with contrasting elements, from dark and brutal to emotional and beautiful. How did you approach creating these contrasts, and what do you hope listeners will take away from this diverse experience?
The intent behind combining these various musical vibes is to create contrasts that amplify the specific emotion that each section is meant to convey. For example, songs like "Clarity" and "A Tale of Fire" both have more clean & melodic intros that then veer off into much heavier territory for the rest of the songs. In this example, our intent is that the heavy sections that follow the clean ones feel heavier and hit harder because of how they're introduced. There are many examples like this throughout the album; we focused very much on what emotion each part would make the listener feel as a guide for how the songs should flow. We hope that the listeners will come away from listening to the album and feel like they've had a complete musical experience that made them feel many strong emotions, sort of like a movie with a resolution at the end. 

5. Can you walk us through the thematic and lyrical elements of the album? What stories or concepts inspired the creation of "A Tale of Fire"?
The name of the album came about after Nicolas and myself had finished writing the lyrics for the album. We realized that most of the lyrics focused on the concept of death in some shape or form, from the individual level to the end of the universe itself. From that realization and as we were working on the album artwork, we decided that fire was the best symbolic representation of death that also fit our visual aesthetic (more fantasy based as you can see on the album cover). Fire is a deep and complex thing when viewed through the lens of what it means in relation to death, as it can be a destructive force, but also provides us with some of the things necessary for life, and even after it destroys, it leaves a blank slate for new things to grow. It also represents the inner fire that we all have inside, the lust and passion for life that can burn strong or wither away over the years. The lyrics on the album essentially talk about death and rebirth in all of those aspects/perspectives. 

6. The tracklist includes titles like "Clarity," "Opulence," and "Stoned Dragon." How did you come up with these names, and do they hold any significance within the context of the album?
All of the songs on the album are self-contained in terms of the content, and as such the song titles themselves are more descriptive of the specific subject of the song as opposed to tying into some greater whole. They can be viewed as a collection of stories that together tackle the common theme of death. For example, "Clarity" is about the death of one's innocence, realizing the darker aspects of human nature and struggling to accept that, which can happen at any age and in multiple stages. "Opulence" takes a bit of an environmental angle and is about the way that humans could overuse the planet's resources if we don't consider the long-term sustainability of our practices, and how taking that too far may lead to catastrophic events in the future. "Stoned Dragon" is a more fantasy-based story about a dragon that harbours resentment towards a village that betrayed him centuries ago, and he tries to contain his anger by getting stoned, but eventually loses control, destroys the village, and dies from injuries afterward. It's obviously a bit silly, but the fantasy setting is really just another vehicle to tell a story of anger, bitterness and regret, as many fictional stories often do. 

7. As a band hailing from Moncton, Canada, how has your local music scene influenced Omnivide's development and sound? Are there any specific aspects of your environment that you feel have left an imprint on your music?
Our local scene has definitely shaped us into the musicians that we are, as we were all involved in other local bands prior to this one. I think there's certainly a great freedom of expression in our scene, as there's not a specific metal genre that is specifically dominant. Our willingness to explore various musical territories is something that was undoubtedly strengthened by our local scene.

8. In your opinion, how does "A Tale of Fire" represent the evolution of Omnivide as musicians and as a collective creative force?
Omnivide is composed of musicians who were bandmates and friends prior to this band forming, and in that sense "A Tale of Fire" is the result not only of our individual musical journeys, but also of the chemistry amongst our members that evolved over the years. This album is definitely one where we tried to push ourselves to our limits as musicians by infusing everything we've learned so far, both in terms of technique and creativity. 

9. For fans who may be discovering Omnivide with this album, which tracks would you recommend as an introduction to your musical style, and why?
Our first single "Holy Killer" is a good song to start with as it contains a little bit of everything we do, having clean sections, lots of orchestration and heavy riffs, and a progressive structure. All it's missing is clean vocals, and for that, I would recommend people listen to "Cosmic Convergence" when it comes out in early March, as it is one of the songs with the cleaner vocals that also contains most of the other common elements in our songs.

10. With the release of "A Tale of Fire" approaching, what are your expectations for how the album will be received, and do you have any plans for live performances or tours in support of the release?
We hope that fans of progressive metal will find it to be an interesting take on the genre and that people will feel strong emotions from listening to the songs as much as we do. We strived to write music that makes people really feel something and to bring listeners on a musical journey that feels like it goes to many different places, so hopefully people experience those things to some extent. For live performances, we have a tour planned in March and April that will take us all over Atlantic Canada, Quebec, and Ontario to get our name out there. 

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