Customer Reviews

Vermin

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While Galder, who writes and plays nearly all the music on this album, is most famously known for his work with Dimmu Borgir, I think his once side project, now veteran force in its own right, Old Man's Child is more varied death metal which leans towards the often maligned glam black of the Norwegian supergroup, and British counterparts Cradle of Filth. Vermin is a wicked stew of thrashy death marches, pulverizing grindcore breakdowns, blizzardous flurries and orchestral explosions of black metal whiteouts, and concurrently brutal and melodic death metal, played with such mastery that the mix successfully emerges as this band's unique formula, avoiding the trappings of overly-ambitious and needless variety.

The glue holding these styles together is the symbiotic relationship of unmatched musical prowess, the apparent determintation to go balls to the wall for the album's entire 37 minutes (disappointingly short, I know), and the pervading mood of inescapable evil. The crunchy riffs, both the doom paced and thrashed paced, strike like bloodthirsty snakes which dispel the conventional wisdom that such beasts will only attack when provoked. The album boasts fantastic lead work as well, effectively balancing wicked runs and complex riffs with blazing solos. Being a fan of slow Slayer, I really enjoy the machine gun hammer-on and pull-off licks here, reminiscent of those that were abused so well on classics like "Seasons on the Abyss" and "South of Heaven".

Though Galder must literally be given all but the smallest slice of credit for this top of 2005 release, the other slice is still a critical one. Reno Kiilerich's drumwork serves as both the thunderous roar of impending doom, and the frenzied pace of all out war, on Vermin. The double bass is played with such obsessive stop and go precision, that it is quite easy to overlook his systematic destruction of the rest of the kit.

Predictably, the keyboards and vocals bare the greatest resemblance to the previously mentioned pariahs, Dimmu and COF, especially with the Danny Elfman-Batman-like intro. and bridge in the fantastically epic "Lord of Command (Bringer of Hate)". However, the true metal of shredding guitars and rapidly detonating drums unapologetically leads this pillaging at the hands of OMC. The vocals, which never sink to puny troll witch level, actually fit the music well, and like the keyboards, never steal center stage and drag the music into pointlessly dramatic circus fare. Still, the keyboards play an integral role in filling out the eerie and sometimes futuristic mood of this album, no matter how low or high they be in the mix at any particular point. "The Flames of Deceit" and "Black Marvels of Death" best illustrate this point as the somewhat subdued keyboards provide retro-hallucinogenic and electronica backdrops, respectively, to produce more dynamic soundscapes.

And with the amount of effort that went into keeping Vermin from staying in any one place for too long, this is an album that is guaranteed to provide countless hours of listening enjoyment. For me, this is my first exposure to an artist I've been hearing great things about for a long time, but have never given a chance. So obviously I cannot rate this album in comparison to the other 5(?) releases from OMC, but what I can say is this release produced enough HPMs (Headbangs per minute) to leave me foaming for the back catalogue. Another top 10 for 2005.

Galder, who plays lead guitar, bass, and acoustic guitar, has returned with his side project, Old Man's Child. With all of the Norwegian black metal bands flooding the market today, it can be difficult to discern between them. But OMC are different than other dark metal bands like Cradle of Filth and (Galder's other band) Dimmu Borgir, because they don't include artsy things like an orchestra. Instead, Old Man's Child just focus on sheer brutality. Granted, "Vermin," the band's seventh album, doesn't conquer much new ground that other black metal bands haven't already covered, but it is relentless, not very melodic black metal at its finest. It's brimming with raspy vocals, thrashy guitars, and lightning fast drum work. "Enslaved And Condemned" begins slowly, but the soft strumming is flattened soon thereafter by a speedy guitar and blinding double kick drum attack. Later on, "War Of Fidelity," is a flurry of buzzsaw guitars, "The Flames Of Deceit" is very thrashy, with fast, dual guitar shredding, and "Black Marvels Of Death" has thunderous drum punches. There are a few moments of relief: "In Torment's Orbit" sprinkles on a some spacious keyboards, and "Twilight Damnation" begins with some acoustic plucking which is actually rather pretty. All in all, however, "Vermin" is a very brutal, very opaque album. It may be the only (and therefore best) black metal album to be released in 2005, and it's strongly recommended to fans of bands like Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, and Grimfist.

This is the first OMC album that I've gotten, and I am totally impressed. Galder's voice is pretty brutal; real vicious BM vox. The guitars are great, and the drums fit perfectly. The keyboards are pretty classy and don't get carried away or intrude. It truly is a great album, although it is kind of short. I wouldn't say it's the best album of the year, though. That will be Bolt Thrower's "Those Once Loyal," of course.

Oh my god, Galdar (Dimmu Borgir) was once again blown my mind. offering one of the best albums of the year. Vermin was got to be oneof the best cds of the year. With so much aggresstion, melodic and so much power Vermin tops them all! On Vermin Galder does everything (Guitar, Bass, keyboards, and Vocals) on the record besides drums which is done by Reno Kiilerich (Dimmu Borgir, Exmortem) which totally kicks ass on drums. the best songs on the album are Enslaved and Condemned, The Plague of Sorrow, War of Fidelity, In Torment's Orbit, Black Marvels of Death, and Twilight Damnation. Again I cant stress you enough, you all that enjoy Dimmu Borgir will love this cd. Go out and buy it NOW!

Honestly with only one black metal release in 2005 by this great band i can say that it has left me hungry for more. I've been into Old Man's Child and Dimmu Borgir for quite a while now and i like both of their styles. Old Man's Child to Galder is what Iron Savior is to Kai Hansen. They both have their own full time bands but enjoy creating their own stuff with their 'side' projects.

Anyway onto the album. I must say it is fantastic! The first 3 songs 'Enslaved and COndemned', 'The Plague of Sorrow' and 'War of Fidelity' are absolutely killer black metal songs. 'In Tormentor's Orbit' is the longest song on the album and has a nice keyboard section that relieves the fast pace for a bit. 'The Flames of Deceit' and 'Black Marvels of Death' are great songs to with buzzsaw-like riffs. Personally i don't like 'Lord of Command' as much as the other songs. 'Twilight Damnation' is a great song with some more synths present.

Throughout the album there are sprinkles of acoustic guitars to add some melody to the album. The lyrics on this album are VERY well written and mainly address the bitterness towards humanity most black metalists share. The artwork on this album is exquisite and very dark and sinister. The majority of instruments are played by Galder and the music and lyrics written by him so he has a lot of praise from me!! It takes a creative mind to do all that. Galder's voice is is very likable and won't make you cringe like that incessant squealing of Dani Filth's pig-being-raped voice, it's a straight-out black metal rasp and quite deep. The drumming is also top knotch and contributed by Reno Kiilerich who i believe is one of the fastest drummers in the world-- hitting 800 beats a minute or so! If you like Nick Barker (who is fantastic IMO) you'll like the drumming present here. Complex, loud and thudding!

Overall if you are an Old Man's Child fan you will definetly like this album. But if you also like some black metal with sprinkles of melody this is also for you. I bought this album straight away when i saw it and my confidence in it is still high. So i recommend it to you. Hope that was helpful!

\m/

OLD MAN'S CHILD - Vermin
-
Truthfully this is my first intro to this band... I had heard Dimmu a while back and never really gave it another spin. (Same goes for Cradle... Just can't get past the Vampire thing...) Some respected music listeners had recommended Old Man's Child, specially their latest album `Vermin',
I figured what the hay, lately I've really gotten into prog-black metal like, `Enslaved' (Below the Lights & Isa) and also `Agalloch' dips heavily into traditional BM Vocals... I'll give it a try. I mean I love most other forms of METAL: Death Metal,(Death, Quo Vadis, Behemoth,) Melodic Death Metal,(Arsis, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity) Prog-Metal,(Opeth, Tool, Agalloch ) Thrash Metal, (The Haunted, Slayer,) NWoAM, Lamb of God, Unearth, Trivium.) Anyways enough rambling here it:

Well they are definitely grounded in the footings of Black Metal yet explore the realms of Melodic and Thrash Metal. Guitars sound incredible... lots of nice powerful harmonies and some great leads. Bass is work is subtle but good... The drumming is quite good... does some nice fills and more so some really cool symbol work. Their keyboard work is the perfect compliment to the overall sound leaving a dark gloom over the overall sound. As far as Vocals go Galder can really growl... Best of all it doesn't sound cheesy or forced. For Die-Hard fans of Black Metal I really can't say if this is top tier work or not...
All I know is for someone just getting into Black Metal, like myself, this will definitely keep my interest into further exploring this Genre. May even give Dimmu another shot.

Favorite Songs: War of Fidelity, The Plague of Sorrow, The Flames of Deceit, and In Torment's Orbit,
-4.5 Stars


IF YOU LIKED, AGREED OR APPRECIATED THIS. PLEASE CLICK YES FOR:
"Was this review helpful?"

Classic black metal from Norway. For those of you familiar with Galder's material with Dimmu Borigir and the 5 previous OMC albums, VERMIN will not disappoint. Galder wrote it, sceams it, and plays everything except for the drums which are handled by Dimmu's new drummer. After Galder was drafted into Dimmu's camp, his band has seemed like more of a sideproject at times, and the 2 previous efforts were inconsistent. Revalation 666 was a bitter disappointment, however In Defiance of Exsistence was quite possibly the best album OMC has ever put out. VERMIN sounds like a cross between In Defiance... and Ill-Natured Spirtual Invasion when you consider the production, the vocals, and the song structure. Overall I was quite happy with it, not blown away, but a worthy addition to OMC's catalog.

Great black metal, Dimmu Borgir style. Incredible musicianship here, and the vocals, the only Galder. The way that this guy make such complex music is worth the money. From start to finish, this album is one of a great contenders of the year. Ahhh!!! check out Eric Petersen from Testament, on a guitar solo!!!

I really hate to give this cd less that a 5 star rating. The reason I did is to distinguish it from the other OMC 5 star ratings that I wrote. Having said that I think this is top notch metal of any kind. Just not on the great level that Ill natured, and Revalations 666 are.
Enslaved and Condemned 9 For many bands on many cds this would be the best song. It begins with a creepy acoustic melody. This song doesnt have the keyboard melodies that OMC would have had in the past. The melody here is primarily from guitar. Mostly this song is about getting attacked by Galders guitar. Their is a good mix of thrashy death metal riffs, and earsplitting solos. As well as the aforementioned accoustic intro.
The Plague of Sorrow 9.5 This one starts with a brief fuzzy noisy intro. Almost industrial, but than the riffs smash on. There is more keyboard in this song than the last one. This song has a definant Death Cult Armegeddon influence. Sounds dark enough for my lost and twisted soul.
War of Fidelity 9.5 Starts with a tattering drum beat and than the guitars slide on in. Plenty of buzzing riffs and blast beats followed by some amazing keys. The rest of the song is a splattering of crunching riffs and amazing solos.
In Torment's Orbit 8 Another good song. Not as good as the last three, but definantly worth your attention. It just doesnt strike me as being outstanding like the other songs. If I had to name my favorite parts I would say that the keyboard at 2:25 is great, and I really like the closing riffs that begin around 4:25.
Lord of Command (Bringer of Hate) 9.5 The opening is an awsome keyboard melody. Sounds like something that should have been on Ill Natured. About 2:23 an even better keyboard piece. It has a magical evil sound. It practically makes your room grow colder. Other than that there are plenty of good riffs as usual.
The Flames of Deceit 8 Very good song. Just not as good as some of the other songs. Favorite part is 1:37-2:00. That is great guitar. The problem is that it is really familiar and I am sure that I have heard it somewhere before. Although Galder is too great to rip someone off. He doesnt need to. Oh well it is probably in my head. That wouldnt be the first time I hallucinated.
Black Marvels of Death 10 Great song. From accoustic intro to the heavy drumms in the end.I wish it was longer. Or I just put it on repeat and that is good enough I guess. Very dreamy keyboards in the background.
Twilight Damnation 10 Even better than the last one if you can believe it. The guitars sound a little like Iron Maiden I think. Actually this song sounds similar to old Cradle of Filth before they sold there souls to MTV. Perfect song. This is my favorite on here.
...As Evil Descends 7.5 Thats evil alright. Very ominous instrumental outro.
Anyways this is a another great addition to the legendary Old Man's Child catalogue. No dissapointments. Go out and buy this cd or die!

The focus on this album is not very good, but what do you expect from Galder, who does everything on here minus the drums while simultaneously playing in Dimmu Borgir. At times there are grand melodic sections such as in the godly opener "Enslaved and Condemned". Then there are oddly placed and ultimately unfulfilling flourishes of industrial elements tacked on to many songs. Though the industrial elements do work very well very occasionally such as on "The Plague of Sorrow". There are also many symphonic elements incorporated into the album, and sometimes this works such as on "Black Marvels of Death". Then you hear people giving this album the blackened death metal tag, but even this fails to recognize that the only element that one could recognize as being "black metal" on here are the vocals, which border on the realm of being straight death metal anyways. My point being is that this album either gets unjustly bashed for being something it's not supposed to be by elitist morons, or gets praised for being something it is not by ignorant Dimmu Borgir fanboys. The truth is that this is not very exciting album, but due to Galder's skill as a guitarist he is bound by accident or otherwise to write at least a couple interesting songs every album. Eric Peterson of Testament was unable to save the horrid "In Torment's Orbit" with his "contribution" to the track, which was mostly just his name being attached to it. "Twilight Damnation" pulls the elements of this album together in a very enjoyable melodic death metal song. Overall I try to give this album credit where it is due, but if you are not already a fan of Galder and his various projects, I don't recommend starting with this album as far as Old Man's Child is concerned.