Interview: Omega Point

Omega Point, a progressive black metal project by YouTube guitarist Ristridi (real name Michael Wöß), released its second full-length in a time span of eight months. "Isolation" which was launched on September 1st brings a more progressive sound comparing to its dark-oriented predecessor "The Descent."

Metal Horizons talked with Michael and here is what he had to say about his music, future, and more.

Alright, first thing is first. Before we dive into all the music stuff, how's life?

Life is good for the most part, I’m getting ready to move to Darmstadt, Germany to study Sound And Music Production, so I’m excited how that will turn out. Moving will be a bitstressful, I guess, but the studies should be really fun. Also, I’m already demoing some stuff for future releases, so this is fun as well.

Speaking of new music, you have an album with your project Omega Point out on September 1. What can people expect from “Isolation”?

Isolation is a concept album which dives into the world of a protagonist who lost his/her best friend to suicide. The album is about the anger, sadness and despair that follow such a tragic loss.

I do have trouble finding a good sub-genre for this CD, I have to say. Omega Point started as a project that could be categorized as Progressive Melodic Black Metal, however the Black Metal amounts have been reduced on this record. It’s mostly Progressive Metal with some Symphonic, Melodic elements, some Black Metal Elements and a unique sound since everyone taking part in the creation of this album has his “musical roots” somewhere else. If you like heavy riffs, ripping solos, atmospheric synthesisers and bombastic drums, this record is made for you.

What was it like working on the album?

It was very refreshing. Having real drums this time really spiced things up a bit and made the whole recording process so much more fun. You know, before, I only programmed drums by myself, and Chris Dovas’ ideas had me go – “Oh!” a couple of times. I even changed some guitar parts to fit his interpretation.

Also, the vocals added a whole new texture to the music. Jonathan introduced his own ideas while we were mapping out the vocal phrasings and melodies and the epic choirs and melodic choruses changed the sound of the record in a way that I wouldn’t have expected beforehand. In a good way, of course.

The recordings were fun but tough at the same time. This summer was very hot and my room doesn’t have any air conditioning, so we all struggled for air from time to time.

Maxi had all the freedom writing the lyrics for this record. He’s the one who thought of the storyline and delivered awesome and suiting lyrics for it.

The guitar recordings were nothing special, a bit of noodling around here and there and a lot of takes for the solos.

Are there any touring plans in support to “Isolation”?

Sadly, there are no touring plans yet. I tried to assemble a live line-up earlier this year, but due to my moving and study plans, I cancelled that. Maybe there will be Omega Point concerts in the future - who knows - but for now, this will remain a studio project.

While we are on the subject of touring, what countries would you love to tour?

I’d love to tour the US at some point, but I guess it’s written in the stars if that will be possible. Other than that, I’d like to see more of Southern and Eastern Europe too, like Croatia, Slovenia or Greece.

Who and what inspires you the most?

Devin Townsend and Wintersun are some of my big heroes. Devin, because he has such a unique way of writing music and changing it up on every record, and Wintersun for their epicness and technical capabilities. Also, other big influences are Coroner, Death, Leprous, Megadeth, Marty Friedman and so on. You can actually check out my Spotify Playlist if you’re interested in which bands inspire me the most.

Besides that, I guess it all depends on my current mood. Usually, I don’t write songs that are very happy. Having bad things happen in one’s life can be very impressive in fact. That’s what led to my first album and that has also been the basis for this second album. Also, jamming or covering songs are great ways of getting inspired.

Showering and dreaming are big sources of inspiration too.

What other genres of music do you listen to? Have any of the other genres you listen to had any impact on your playing?

I love Jazz because I don’t really get it. I’ve never actually tried to do jazzy stuff though so that didn’t have that much impact on my playing. 80s Synthwave is nice too.

But that’s music I listen to when I want to intentionally not listen to metal or rock music.

Speaking of metal subgenres, I like Progressive Power Metal Bands like Symphony X and Eternity’s End a lot, their guitar playing impacted me the most alongside my other main influences I already told you about.

I really appreciate you giving us your time today. Is there anything else you would like to tell us and the fans before we wrap things up?

Yes, new material is always on the way, so be prepared for new stuff and check out my YouTube Channel “ristridi” (https://www.youtube.com/ristridi). And thanks to everybody for your support!

"Isolation" and "The Descent" are available to order from Bandcamp. For more information about the project visit Michael's website.