Black metal being played in 2016 is nothing new. In fact,I feel this blog wouldn’t exist if it were not for this fact. Void Omina plays black metal and are from the United States. Again, this is nothing new. In fact, there is nothing really remarkable about Void Omina, on the surface, that would separate them from everything else. Besides a brightly colored album art with space things, this is just black metal played with fierce precision from five guys from Oakland California. Maybe that is why it is receiving a substantial following from people.

Before I make any broad claims on the state of black metal, let us admit that Dying Light, the debut from Void Omina is thoroughly entertaining. With enough progressive tendencies to keep interest moving, the band is able to conquer both harsh and light aspects of the sound without sounding like they do not belong. Songs like “Of Time” start with a mind bending psych meltdown before snapping back into sobering black metal. The sound is harsh but productive as it snakes through its multiple changing passages and segues. While this sounds like progressive and atmospheric black metal, those aspects of Void Omina feel like secondary aspects to a sound which is really about speed and exploration.

Black metal, currently, has enough branches and twigs on its tree that you could busy yourself with one style and not really run too much into others. Void Omina plays contemporary black metal which feels stretched between the past and present in its sound and presentation. Blast beats played from five guys in Oakland without the need for corpse paint or the pageantry usually associated with the style. Void Omina isn’t breaking the mold of black metal rather finding what works for the and doing a great job on their own branch.