OMEN
“HAMMER DAMAGE”
Album Review By Iron Mathew
7/10
Omen are a power metal band from the USA formed in 1983, releasing their debut album the following year. Five more studio album shave been released throughout their career to date with their seventh effort, Hammer Damage, released in 2016.
Thirteen years have passed since the last studio release by Omen, and none of their passion and desire to play has dissipated during that time. The new album opens with the title song ‘Hammer Damage’, all big, chunky riffs with a rhythm of thunder. Raspy voiced vocals and Omen have exploded back on to the metal scene. ‘Chaco Canyon (Sun Dagger)’ foot stomps into life and is a very heavy song, with heavy doom style guitars, a pounding rhythm and a screechy guitar solo. With a more upbeat tempo, ‘Cry Havoc’ races into life and gallops by in a flash. A catchy sing a long chorus and ‘Cry Havoc’ stands tall for how power metal should sound like. Pace slows and a widdly guitar intro breathes life into ‘Eulogy For A Warrior’. A ballad, nope, a power ballad, nope, just an anthemic style stomp echoing some of the epic songs that fellow countrymen, the legends that are Manowar, have released over the years.
Thunderous riffing and ‘Knights’ bludgeons its way through the airways, some mildly brutal guitaring and a rhythm that just desires a mad foot stomp. Omen have never been an out and out speed metal band and very rarely play fast paced, but what they deliver is majestic mid tempo power metal that is both thunderous and worthy of foot stomping so hard that the floor underneath you will crack. ‘Hellas’ builds the tension and atmosphere with a short intro before launching into a hard rocking slab of melodic hard rock. Rhythms pound and pummel with a guitar chug reminiscent of the eighties NWOBHM sound. Guitar solos throughout the album screech and scream and are well suited to this blend of power metal.
A slower pace, a majestic stomp and the epic ‘Caligula’ storms in, blasting all obstacles out of its way as it relentlessly marches on. The guitar driven ‘Era Of Crisis’ sounds lighter than the rest of the album and will have you foot tapping without even noticing, such is its infectiousness. The most easily accessible song on the album, it will appeal to a number of genres such as the heavy, the hard, and the power metal ones. The album is brought to a close by the instrumental ‘A.F.U.’ with a superb demonstration of how to guitar riff and shred, complimented by a reliable back line that just oozes power.
Overall, hard rocking melodic hard rock, played at a mid tempo pace with rhythms of thunder and some relentless guitar riffing.
TRACKLIST
Hammer Damage
Chaco Canyon (Sun Dagger)
Cry Havoc
Eulogy For A Warrior
Knights
Hellas
Caligula
Era Of Crisis
A.F.U.
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