Review of Old Man's Child - Slaves Of The World

I’ll be the first to admit that since Old Man’s Child turned into virtually a one man project with ‘that bald guy from Dimmu Borgir,' the output has been competent but less than impressive; From Ill Natured Spiritual Invasion through Revelation 666, In Defiance of Existence and the last album, Vermin Galder has, in my opinion simply ridden the coat tails of his Dimmu Borgir fame. Which is a shame as I still really enjoy Born of the Flickering and The Pagan Prosperity.

If you heard the last three OMC albums and if you enjoyed them, you know what you are getting with Slaves of the World and will enjoy it also, regardles of my opinion: slightly menacing synth laced black metal with more than a nod to Dimmu Borgir cast off riffs and atmospheres, just with less pomp and theatrics. If anything, Galder, this time assisted by session drummer Peter Wildoer (Pestilence, Darkane, Arch Enemy) has the delivery down pat even if it sounds like a recycled version of the last three albums.

The guitars have a more death metal lean and tone, the understated keyboards are adequately atmospheric, Galder’s death/black vocals are par for the course, even though he seems much more vehement than previous offerings. The thing is that all the parts, as good as they are, don’t really come together to form anything above average. Sure, I’ll listen to this album for review purposes, but I’m not going to rush out and purchase it or listen to it every day- especially with so many better black metal choices out there (*ahem* Geist). And frankly if I want to listen to something in this style, I’ll more than likely throw on Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia or Deathcult Armageddon.

It's not that Slaves of the World is a bad album - it isn’t - it's well played, well produced, and has smattering of decent riffs. However, when the best or most memorable song on the album is a redone version of Born of the Flickering title track - that’s a problem. The only other track that even remotely registers with me is “Path of Destruction” with a nice mid section that transitions from marching acoustics to an impressive blast beat then a militant lope. But I can’t help think of Galder’s other band throughout the song. Other tracks like “Saviors of Doom,” “Unholy Foreign Crusade,” “On the Devils Throne” all provide ample blackened competence, but little else to these ears.

I’ve tried to avoid too many mentions of Dimmu Borgir (and failed horribly), but the truth is, as with the last three OMC albums, I cant help think that Slaves to the World is comprised of Galder’s cutting room riffs or cast off moments from Dimmu recording sessions. A testament to Galder’s creativity and dedication to both his projects, but at some point things get watered down, and I feel Old Man's Child is the end result.

Release Details

Old Man's Child

Slaves Of The World

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