THE OMNIFIC
Aussie trio go head-to-head with polyrhythmic bass sounds..
SIX YEARS AGO Matt Fack and Toby Peterson-Stewart were teenage bassists playing in different metal bands on the Melbourne scene. Fack was in the thrall of his hero, Dream Theater’s John Myung, Peterson-Stewart admired Jaco Pastorius and Victor Wooten, and both loved Animals As Leaders and Periphery. When they finally met and started jamming, it was clear that they had a similarly high proficiency on their instrument, and there was musical chemistry too.
“Matt wrote this track for two basses,” Peterson-Stewart recalls,“because we vaguely discussed it that first day. And when we heard it back we thought that this could actually work. We had a similar vision – this idea of just having two basses, then building songs and structures around that.”
The pair earned online attention with two videos of their early twin-bass experiments, and things snowballed. The Omnific released their first EP, Sonorous, in 2016, and after recruiting highly gifted local drummer Jerome Lematua, two more EPs followed – the album-length Kismet and The Mind’s Eye. As well as playing their own shows, they have also toured with Cog, Between The Buried And Me and Intervals.
The bass-bass-drums format might imply The Omnific have a limited sonic palette, but the opposite is true. Firstly, all three players are of the modern, quantum-era school of prog metal musicianship where the Petruccis, Abasis and Mansoors of the world set the technical standard. Music tech has come on – better instruments and gear – and free, advanced lessons are but a mouse click away. The trio are also programmers, and brighten their low-end soundworld with washes of mellow ambience, bar-room piano and cinematic synth strings. Spinal Tap’s Big Bottom this is not.
“There are limitations to what we can do,” says Fack, “but through those limitations – like having no guitar at all – you can try and make some really interesting art. I guess we are trying to create something kind of unique.”
Their debut album, Escapades is a thoroughly modern record, with interesting and unique ideas scattered liberally throughout its 11 tracks. Tough opener Antecedent features a guest slot from yet another bassist, Polyphia’s Clay Gober, and sets the tone for a deep exploration of the band’s 21st-century production skills and dazzling instrumental prowess. They slap, tap, pluck and groove on to funky, melodic music that’s imaginative, and immaculately arranged.
“It’s all about the song, man,” says PetersonStewart. “It’s never just about the notes. It’s got to say something. This record is the pinnacle of how much we can put into this band, what we can get out of the ideas we give each other, and the way we work as three individuals. It’s what I personally dreamed we could make when we first started. No one had a rule book on how to do this, or even to mix it or record it. We’ve gathered that knowledge over time, and as technology has grown with us we’ve been able to do some things better. This really accurately represents who we are at this current point in time.”
“HAVING NO GUITAR AT ALL MEANS YOU CAN TRY AND MAKE SOME REALLY INTERESTING ART.”