Band : Omega Lithium

Album title : Andromeda

Label : Own release

Distributor : Own release

Release date : 2008

Release : 3-track cd-R (sold out)

A couple of weeks ago...oh good grief, it's been foùr weeks already!...we got a mail by this band operating from the NW Croatian bordertown of Umag (some 35 kms South from Italy's Trieste) in the Istra region, telling us they would like to be reviewed by us. As faith would have it, they couldn't send us a copy of their EP, the thing sold out since February of late, but we could listen to the tracks on their MySpace.

Originally started as a solo project idea by guitarist Marko Matijevic Sekul, whom had always wanted to mix Metal with electronic sounds in the way Ministry and Oomph! do it, the projectturned into a band effort when Marko's close friends Teodor Klaj (drums) and Zoltan Lecei (bass) joined him on March 30 th, 2007. The three started experimenting the possibilities of the computer and various synthesizers, composing instrumental tracks to begin with, then started their search for a singer. At first, the guys were actually looking for a male vocalist, but they soon realized it would be cooler to have a girl/ woman singing/ screaming the lyrics! One day they were hanging out with Andrea Zuppani, asked her to join, and soon after shesettled behind the mike, thus effectively making the birth of Omega Lithium as a band a fact!

The first performances live are done, and in October 2007, the foursome release their Andromeda EP. Influenced in the evolution of their sound by the likes of Rammstein, Oomph!, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pain, Tristania, Pantera, Depeche Mode, and Muse, the band's sound is an Industrial Metal with elements of Gothic. Sekul himself describes it as "...hard Metal riffing with electronics mixed in a Gothic atmosphere...", so that comes down to about the same. The nice thing about Andrea's vocal rendition, is that for once you don't have to listen to the high-pitch meanderings of a soprano. In stead, she's a real warm voice, sensitive but strong enough (and much closer to the average woman's voice anyway). The nice thing about the electronics (synths, organ sounds, additional bouncing Industrial beats), is that they're gently present in each of the three songs, creating the Gothic atmosphere in combination with the singing. Due to its melodic character, the title song comes over as the most prominent one of the three, but each song has its own nice little details to love and cherish! It's almost a pity I wasn't able to listen to the songs in my usual way (mp3-player, headphones, while under way from here to there on the bike), because I have a feeling I've missed too many of the finesse in the music! In other words: this is definitely a band I wanna hear more music from!

Luckily, that appears to be very possible! On February 23 of this year the band signs a deal with management and promotion agency Alkemist Fanatix Europe'smanager Carlo Belloti. The day after, the band performed at the Bologna Darkfest, which sees them share the same stage as luminaries Jesus On Extacy, Katatonia, Macbeth, and Stoneman (to name but a few). After that, the band started the selection and preparation of the songs which are to appear on their debut album, to be recorded late this year at Subsound Studio in Rome. In early April, they were able to announce that they had picked some 20 songs (from which the best would be chosen for the actual recordings) for the pre-production of the album. So...this is me letting the band know I'm eager to know what their full-length may become! As far as the demo is concerned, it's a pity it was released last year, because I woùld've added it to my year-lists!

98/100

Tony.