Date: 12.30.03
Reviewer: Tatt of Verbal Narcotic
Review:
Okay, so I see a bunch of posts from this band Ominous around the net proclaiming that they are giving out free CD’s to anyone who wants them, and at first I think, “Wow, they must suck” since I didn’t see a lot of people jumping on the chance to get free metal, and that is strange really. However, I put in my bid for a free disk, and I’m extremely glad I did. Ominous is a New Jersey based death metal band and not to be confused with the Swedish band of the same name.
What I received in the mail, is a disk with 11 tracks. 11 kick-ass tracks at that. From the beginning intro track to the 10th song, this disk smokes with pure, unadulterated hardcore. In short, it fucking rocks. Each song is arranged in what I can only describe as a tribal death format. It seems that this band has deep old school tribal death roots and while this is normally NOT something that is prevalent in good metal of today, Ominous does it like it should be done. There seems to be a distinct old school death sound that I totally dig. The band is aptly named, because the distinct and deeply dark sound is jammed into your head at full force, and true tribal death is at worst intimidating and angry and at best, it is ominous, frightening and full of rage. This disk is all of that. I’ve listened to it frequently since it’s arrival, and when I’m pissed off, I shove Ominous into the CD player and drive around town looking for a fight. I want people to HEAR how angry I am and right now, nothing in my CD case does it better than Ominous. If I had any complaints about the disk, I would have to say that it’s way too short, checking in at only 26:24, and the production could be better. It seems at times that the bass kick and the bass guitar are on the same frequency, and the production becomes a little muddy. However, the guitar work is good, and fast throughout most of the songs, and the lyrics, in true death metal fashion are deep growls that can actually be understood. The drummer sounds kick-ass but in truth, the kick drum seems so far back as to seem inconsequential at times, while the same cannot be said for the snare, toms, and cymbals, which set against the backdrop of the heavy guitar and deep bass seem kind of tinny and way up in the front. Not to worry, Ominous shines on this disk, changing up and moving on, even to a sweet, cleanly played guitar instrumental track to end the disk called Heart of Sorrow. Officianados of hardcore percussion will appreciate the fact that the drummer is prone to short bursts of raw brutality that set the mood up a notch, and set the heads to banging, while maintaining a brutal drive throughout.
I would recommend this disk to any true metalhead, it makes an excellent addition to any collection, and I look forward to seeing this band go on to bigger and better things. Maybe someday, we’ll share a stage with them, and until then, keep the faith, stay metal, stay hard, stay OMINOUS!
Favorite track-track 5…wanna know what the name of the song is?? Get this disk and find out for yourself!!!
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