Ex-OPETH tribute band OMNIVIDE is one hell of a progressive metal supergroup. Formed in 2020 in New Brunswick, OMNIVIDE was founded from a plethora of melodic death metal and prog bands. Marc-Andre Richard supplies drums hailing from death metal bands DISCHORD, IBEX, and AGE OF TYRANNY, plus experimental outfit VOMITSELF. Samuel Frenette, as well as Alex Cornier, also came from DISCHORD, with Alex also formerly playing the bass for the short-lived death metal band SIGIL OF AEONS. Guitarist Nicolas Pierre Boudreau is the only member not from another group.
OMNIVIDE plays a mix of prog, melodic death, symphonic, and technical metal wrapped in a contemporary feel. Their new EP “Arise” was released October 10th, 2025, courtesy of Californian label Seek & Strike, known for housing Finnish deathcore legends ASSEMBLE THE CHARIOTS, and many more. This marks their second release, having put out their debut full-length album “A Tale of Fire” in March of 2024. After the first release, “Arise” was recorded in just under nine months, and OMNIVIDE plans to tour Eastern Canada with these songs in November of this year. Since their last effort was received very well, and since I’m a sucker for progressive metal, this release has been a hopeful underground find.
Leading up to “Arise,” the sole single “Void” was released on September 5th, and gives quite a taste of what this EP is going to be full of: constant style switches. Never get too comfortable with whatever sound OMNIVIDE starts to play, because surely it’s not going to sound the same 40 seconds later. Seasoned drummer Marc-Andre Richard stays lightning fast throughout the track, and only lets up to give the acoustic guitar the spotlight. A mixture of smooth and devilish vocals is present, and they seem to switch effortlessly. The whole song is truly an amalgamation of extreme talent brought forth from different bands and is a perfect gateway into the full release.
After an atmospheric prelude for the first track of the full album, with choral ambience and classic symphonic metal orchestration — which instantly sounded just like the ambience you’d hear in an epic fantasy video game or television show — we’re greeted by the fantastic single “Void,” which was, of no surprise, great. The following track, “Tyrannical Saviour,” takes the ball from “Void” and sprints with it. The technical death metal tones shine especially bright, and the clean vocals take more of the doom metal route. The riffs are extremely memorable due to just how unique they sound. Marc-Andre’s blast beats are so satisfying, and I could listen to a whole album of them in isolation.
“Omnipotent” follows, and sounds quite like if Muhammed Suicmez of NECROPHAGIST was given an acoustic guitar. There are more notes played in the first two minutes of this song than major bands have played in their entire careers, especially on the now-present keyboard. At over halfway through, I can draw parallels exactly to their inspiration, OPETH. If I were presented with some snippets of this album, and told blindly that OPETH followed up “The Last Will and Testament” with this, no doubt I would’ve believed it.
The title track, which is also the last song, is the longest of the bunch, almost reaching the 9-minute mark. It covers some of that runtime, further building upon the fantasy game ambience, but screw serenity! It’s time for more chugging guitars! Of course, after a while, the storm calms back down to a mellow passage riddled with soft, but technical drums and guitar work. After the final moments of anthemic singing and slightly power metal-esque melodies, “Arise” leaves you sitting in your seat satisfied.
Satisfied indeed, but I still keep thinking of one band… It’s pretty in-your-face that the vocals, the song structures and length, the guitar solos, and pretty much everything else seem to clearly resemble the reason for OMNIVIDE’s existence: OPETH. OPETH are easily crowned the kings of extreme progressive metal and rock, and it seeps directly into the works of OMNIVIDE. Every band, no matter what genre, has that one legendary band they look up to, and most likely try to emulate in some way. In some cases, it creates a unique blend of sounds. In this case, OMNIVIDE comes off as glorifying OPETH. Most, if not all, tracks seem to be OPETH worship, without room for a special one-of-a-kind sound. Especially in the modern metal age, there are more acts than ever — and to reach success, identity is a must. It’s time for OMNIVIDE to break free from their reference’s shackles and take on the metal world with a new, non-emulated style.
Written by Mitchell Connolly
Tracklist
- Prelude
- Void
- Tyrannical Saviour
- Omnipotent
- Arise
Lineup
Marc-Andre Richard – Drums
Nicolas Pierre Boudreau – Guitar
Samuel Frenette – Guitar, Vocals
Samuel Lavoie – Keyboards
Alex Cornier – Bass
Label
Seek & Destroy
