Omnium Gatherum’s “Refining Fire” Video Is Mostly About Water

We got our first taste of the upcoming album by Finnish melodeath stalwarts Omnium Gatherum last month, and damn if that new track wasn’t a solid chunk of classic European death metal goodness.

Now, the band has released a second single, along with a second video. This one’s called “Refining Fire”, and while the song is everything you’ve come to expect from Omnium Gatherum (in that it’s catchy as hell and a lot of fun), the video raises one specific question: if the song is about refining fire, why does most of the video feature frontman Jukka Pelkonen wading through a river? Is that what he thinks fire becomes when you refine it? Is fire just…water ore?

Pelkonen’s statement about the song does nothing to clear up my nerdy musings:

“The new video song ‘Refining Fire’ is a story about not giving up and the power of staying clear-headed inside oneself, as well as in the outside world too within all the chaotic turbulence. It is the never-ending stream, the river that carries us and it is the fire that refines us. Stay strong and hold your head up high. You deserve it! …Musically speaking, this is maybe the most OG old schoolish song on the new album!”

See, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. From what I learned in school, water and fire don’t like each other. They must teach more advanced science in Finnish schools. I guess the album’s called The Burning Cold, which also raises a lot of questions, so maybe I’m overthinking this.

Anyway, check out the video for “Refining Fire” below. Omnium Gatherum’s The Burning Cold drops 8/31 on Century Media; pre-order it here. Make sure you catch the band on tour with Amorphis and Dark Tranquility at one of the dates here.

Hail to you, Role Alvin.