Arvio

This live CD by the Dutch Omnia is a good example of a nearly perfect post-folklore album. It has been recorded with a desk microphone at the Summer Darkness festival in 2004. The bootleg-style recoding has been completely successful - because as it happens, the band is playing a fully acoustic, completely unamplified gig. So the whole sound comes out of the venue's (the Medieval stone church of St. John in Utrecht) perfect acoustics and the band's own strength of performance. The musical tone of the album is therefore clearer, more beautiful than on any folk record I've ever heard - the only exception to this is one flute in Mabon, which comes through as a bit too crisp. The entire feel of the event is perfected even further by the effect of the audience. The over 300 goths present are utterly silent during the songs, and then explode into applause when each of them ends. On the album everything comes out as a smoothly flowing whole, between-song speeches included. (I do not, however, know whether some material has been left out or not.)

The songs themselves have mostly been chosen from among the best tracks of Sine Missione (2002), 3 (2003) and Crone of War (2004). They seem more performance-like here, and have the sense of interpretative freedom brought on by playing live. The mood is definitely more free-spirited than on the studio albums, but there are nevertheless none of the slips into sloppiness or playing off-key so common to typical live folk performances. There's a definite feel of professionalism involved.

The album is at its strongest about half-way, during the progression of Bran, the exceptionally fine Saltatio and Crone of War -album's magnificent Morrigan. Those are then followed by a thoroughly entertaining musical "please do buy our CD" -piece. The disc ends with an intro-and-two-tracks long joint performance with the German band Faun. As far as melody and skill are considered it's very high-quality stuff as well, but a problem is created by the "familiarity" of the material they play - far too many bands have recycled the same traditional Celtic themes in their music. Luckily enough when one knows how tradition-conscious (as opposed to just imitating tradition) a band Omnia is, it's easy to let the songs simply play out on their own merit without taking outside elements into consideration. Because then all that remains is the essential part - the fact that the whole album is packed with excellent post-folklore music that has been played with skill and precision and has a wonderful mood to it. It's been made with serious intent, even though the music in itself isn't serious. What this means in practice is that the band doesn't even attempt to reach for the kind of solemn, poetic harmony of groups like Garmarna and Ilgi. Omnia honestly plays a folk music of the common people even when they've got an on-stage feel to their music.

To final piece to all this is the refined production quality: like their previous album, also this work by Omnia comes in a very expensive looking digipack. Yet this time the band has found a perfect balance between their rowdy humor and stylish seriousness. There is no booklet, but the songs are given context through extra text in the track listing. In addition the CD contains video clips of live performances of "Morrigan" and "Auta Luonto" recorded in Rotterdam a year earlier, five large slideshows of show and travel photos gathered over the years (with music) and six desktop images made out of the album's covers.

So the content is well made, musically excellent and there are lots and lots of it. I for one couldn't ask for more. I can easily recommend this album to all friends of post-folklore music. It must be noted, though, that some people may find the contrast of the "common people's" songs and the high level of artistic skill a bit problematic - for them Omnia may sound too well made to seem "authentic enough".

Among the very finest of folk albums made.

Jiituomas

Omnia - Live Religion

Hollantilaisen Omnian live-levy on malliesimerkki lähes täydellisestä post-folklore -albumista. Se on otettu talteen pöytämikillä Summer Darkness -festareilla elokuussa 2004. Bootleg-mäinen nauhoitus on onnistunut loistavasti - yhtye nimittäin esiintyy täysin akustisesti ja kokonaan ilman vahvistimia. Koko soundi tulee siis konserttipaikan (Pyhän Johanneksen keskiaikainen kivikirkko Utrechtissa) täydellisestä kaiusta ja yhtyeen omasta esiintymisvoimasta. Ääni on puhtaampi ja kauniimpi kuin yhdelläkään kuulemallani folklevyllä - ainoa poikkeus on *Mabon*:issa oleva huilu, joka tulee hieman liian kirkkaana. Vaikutelma täydentyy entisestään siitä, että yli 300-päinen goottiyleisö on kappaleiden ajan täysin hiljaa ja räjähtää sitten taputtamaan kappaleiden välillä. Levyllä kaikki tulee sujuvana kokonaisuutena, välispiikkejä myöten. (En tosin tiedä paljonko materiaalia on jätetty pois.)	Artisti: Omnia Formaatti: CD Levy-yhtiö: omakustanne Julkaisuvuosi: 2004 Kokonaiskesto: 52:40 Kappaleita: 10
Itse kappaleet edustavat suurelta osin yhtyeen parhaimmistoa albumeilta Sine Missione (2002), 3 (2003) ja *Crone of War* (2004). Niissä on selvästi esitetympi tuntu ja tietty livetilanteen tuoma vapautuneisuus läsnä. Tunnelma on selvästi albumiversioita vapautuneempi, mutta ei lipsu folk-liveille ikävän tyypilliseen huolimattomuuteen tai epävireisyyteen. Kyse on erittäin ammattitaitoisista esiintyjistä. Vahvimmillaan levy on puolivälissä, kun peräkkäin tulevat *Bran, aivan loistava Saltatio* ja Crone of War -albumin upea *Morrigan. Niitä seuraa vielä erittäin viihdyttävä musiikillinen "ostakaa meidän levy" -teos. Levyn päättää intron ja kahden kappaleen pituinen yhteisosio saksalaisen Faun-yhtyeen kanssa. Teknisesti ja melodisesti sekin on äärimmäisen kovatasoinen, mutta ongelmaksi muodostuu soitetun materiaalin "tuttuus" - liian moni yhtye on kierrättänyt samoja kelttiteemoja musiikissaan. Onneksi kun ottaa huomioon sen kuinka perinnetietoinen (eikä vain tyyliä lainaava) yhtye Omnia on, voi helposti antaa kappaleiden soida omilla ansiollaan ilman ulkoisten mielikuvien tuomaa painolastia. Silloin jäljelle jää vain oleellinen - se että koko levy on erinomaista post-folklorea, huolella soitettuna ja tunnelmaltaan erinomaisena. Se on tehty vakavissaan, vaikka ei ole vakavaa. Käytännössä tämä tarkoittaa sitä, että yhtye ei edes yritä tavoitella samankaltaista lyyrisyyttä ja hillittyä harmoniaa kuin esim. Garmarna tai Ilgi, vaan haluaa olla rehellisesti "kansan" kansanmusiikkia vaikka onkin livenä varsin "esittävän" oloinen. Kaiken kruunaa kokonaistoteutus: kuten edellinenkin, myös tämä Omnian levy tulee erittäin kalliin näköisessä digipackissa, mutta tällä kertaa yhtye on löytänyt täydellisen tasapainon reippaan huumorinsa ja tyylikkään vakavuuden välille. Kansivihkoa ei ole, mutta kappaleille annetaan kontekstit nimien yhteydessä. Lisäksi levylle on pakattu videotallenteet Morrigan ja Auta Luonto* -kappaleiden live-esityksistä Rotterdamissa 2003, viisi isoa slideshowta bändin keikka- ja tapahtumakuvista vuosien varrelta (taustamusiikeilla varustettuina) sekä kuusi albumin kansista tehtyä taustakuvaa. Sisältöä on siis valtavasti, hyvin toteutettuna ja musiikillisesti erinomaisena. Ainakaan minä en osaa toivoa levyltä enää enempää. Suosittelen tätä todella lämpimästi kaikille post-folklore -tavarasta pitäville. Osalle kuulijoista saattaa tosin muodostua ongelmaksi ristiriita taidon ja kansanomaisuuden välillä - Omnia voi olla joidenkin makuun liiankin huolella tehtyä kuulostaakseen heistä tarpeeksi "uskottavalta". Folk-albumien ehdotonta aatelia. Jiituomas

Takaisin - Kokoelmat - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - V - W - Demot

This live CD by the Dutch Omnia is a good example of a nearly perfect post-folklore album. It has been recorded with a desk microphone at the Summer Darkness festival in 2004. The bootleg-style recoding has been completely successful - because as it happens, the band is playing a fully acoustic, completely unamplified gig. So the whole sound comes out of the venue's (the Medieval stone church of St. John in Utrecht) perfect acoustics and the band's own strength of performance. The musical tone of the album is therefore clearer, more beautiful than on any folk record I've ever heard - the only exception to this is one flute in Mabon, which comes through as a bit too crisp. The entire feel of the event is perfected even further by the effect of the audience. The over 300 goths present are utterly silent during the songs, and then explode into applause when each of them ends. On the album everything comes out as a smoothly flowing whole, between-song speeches included. (I do not, however, know whether some material has been left out or not.) The songs themselves have mostly been chosen from among the best tracks of Sine Missione (2002), 3 (2003) and Crone of War (2004). They seem more performance-like here, and have the sense of interpretative freedom brought on by playing live. The mood is definitely more free-spirited than on the studio albums, but there are nevertheless none of the slips into sloppiness or playing off-key so common to typical live folk performances. There's a definite feel of professionalism involved. The album is at its strongest about half-way, during the progression of Bran, the exceptionally fine Saltatio and Crone of War -album's magnificent Morrigan. Those are then followed by a thoroughly entertaining musical "please do buy our CD" -piece. The disc ends with an intro-and-two-tracks long joint performance with the German band Faun. As far as melody and skill are considered it's very high-quality stuff as well, but a problem is created by the "familiarity" of the material they play - far too many bands have recycled the same traditional Celtic themes in their music. Luckily enough when one knows how tradition-conscious (as opposed to just imitating tradition) a band Omnia is, it's easy to let the songs simply play out on their own merit without taking outside elements into consideration. Because then all that remains is the essential part - the fact that the whole album is packed with excellent post-folklore music that has been played with skill and precision and has a wonderful mood to it. It's been made with serious intent, even though the music in itself isn't serious. What this means in practice is that the band doesn't even attempt to reach for the kind of solemn, poetic harmony of groups like Garmarna and Ilgi. Omnia honestly plays a folk music of the common people even when they've got an on-stage feel to their music. To final piece to all this is the refined production quality: like their previous album, also this work by Omnia comes in a very expensive looking digipack. Yet this time the band has found a perfect balance between their rowdy humor and stylish seriousness. There is no booklet, but the songs are given context through extra text in the track listing. In addition the CD contains video clips of live performances of "Morrigan" and "Auta Luonto" recorded in Rotterdam a year earlier, five large slideshows of show and travel photos gathered over the years (with music) and six desktop images made out of the album's covers. So the content is well made, musically excellent and there are lots and lots of it. I for one couldn't ask for more. I can easily recommend this album to all friends of post-folklore music. It must be noted, though, that some people may find the contrast of the "common people's" songs and the high level of artistic skill a bit problematic - for them Omnia may sound too well made to seem "authentic enough". Among the very finest of folk albums made. Jiituomas