After a two year recording hiatus, the multi-genre madmen of my homeland are back with their second full-lenght album. After a bone-crushing debut and a very promising EP in between, my expectations were considerably high for this sophomore effort. Profane Omen’s penchant for mixing everything from straight-up metal to old school hardcore, punk, melodic rock and groovy elements is still defiantly present, although compared to the debut, I’d say the hard rock-vibes have taken a back seat with the metal and dirty punk taking on more prominent roles. On a personal note, the slight proggy leanings that were noticeable on the Disconnected have not left too many traces on Inherit The Void. This is a slight shame, but fortunately one of the very few shames on a great record.

The band plays as tightly as a tick’s ass and singer Jules Näveri maintains his position as one of the most über-versatile vocalists, not just in Finland, but modern metal in general. The production has a definite rawness to it, leaving the album sounding superb to those who might be turned off by the kind of super-slick Andy Sneap-style production jobs that are common in contemporary metal. Despite the raw qualities and some moments of sonic chaos, the soundscape is still very well-balanced, with a definite live-on-stage feel to it.

The song material goes from the awesome speed demons like Superpowertrip and Dodge to slower steamrollers with quality Pantera-style grooving like Right To Retaliate and Generation Doom (Count Me Out). Fans of intense guitar riffing in general should enjoy the heck out of this record as the riffs blast in your face in bunches upon bunches. Guitar solos are used sparingly and in well-thought places. This record solidifies what seeing PO live reveals: This is a band where you don’t have the sort of instrumental super heroes that stand out noticeably from the others, just a band where each individual plays damn well as a tight package and pulverizes as a result.

Deviating from the general brutality of the record are the somehow alternative vibes on Information and the tribal atmospherics of Left To Disintegrate, which leads to the semi-acoustic In The Middle I Breathe, a powerfully dark ballad that morphs into a very churning and heavy piece with Näveri’s grunting punishing you to the max. Despite the few mediocre tracks found in between (I Have Seen, Dealers Of Guilt), the song material shows growth while banging heads without mercy. While all this is happening, the band remembers to concentrate on producing melodies that stick to you.

Profane Omen handles their rich mix of different genres very well and have considerably added the mellow, atmospheric elements since Beaten Into Submission while also making the metallic elements darker. As I mentioned earlier, I hope that the band starts utilizing more of the dark, progressive vibes they showed glimpses of before, but even as they are on Inherit The Void, Profane Omen produces some of the freshest and best heavy music Finland has to offer.