Omen - Battle Cry (1984) Reviews

I was pretty excited about this one. I had never heard it before, and the album art just tickles my brain in all the right ways. Love at first sight? Maybe let's see how the date goes...

Yeah I didn't get catfished with this one. What you have here is something like ManOwaR meets Manilla Road, but the production isn't quite as good as what you might find on albums by those bands-and that works in it's favor. I love music that sounds like this. It's a little bit messy and a little bit muddy, but not raw. It's the sound of a very nicely done demo-tape, and I absolutely love that. Like next time your band is rehearsing and your listening to the standards like ManOwaR, Manilla Road, Metallica, Iron Maiden, etc, you can pop out your copy of Omen's-Battle Cry and hit em with something a little bit diferent but equally awesome. It's that kind of buried treasure album. Lyrically mostly medievel fantasy stuff, executioners, dragons, blades, battles, the usual stuff.

All that being said this is a 5 star from me, because it just gets "the formula" right for me to do that. Another person might listen to this and find nothing special. Listen to it and form your opinion, but for me it's a banger that I'm going to come back to time and time again. It's in rotation.

I think I can concur with almost everyone else's review of this and don't really have much more to add. It's a solid release, that I can't say I've ever heard of before. I am a bit surprised that this has never come up before in any of my discovery playlists of any kind. It has all the elements of an early heavy metal release with folk-ish elements that I enjoy. I love a good battle theme and song battle cry is good. Doesn't quite hit the spot for some reason. Only thing I can think of is that it just didn't have the high spots or epic feeling on this record I was looking for. I know it's not stated on metal academy, but they've been marked as US Power Metal and I'm coming to a personal realization that whatever the US version is,  I definitely prefer European power metal's speed and epicness. Only songs like The Axeman and Dragon's Breath here really stick with me. 

OK, so Omen are another band who have passed me by until now, although in their case it's not so surprising due to their power metal credentials. But this, their debut album released in 1984, is actually pretty damn good. I listened to it blind, in that I didn't know anything about it or the band going in and if you had told me they were from Croyden or Coventry I would have believed it, so pronounced is the NWOBHM influence on the sound of the album. But, guess what, they're not from London, but from Los Angeles, better known at the time for being the ground zero of the glam or hair metal scene and home to outfits like Mötley Crüe, Dokken and Quiet Riot, a scene to which I have a particular aversion.

Omen managed to rise beyond LA's neon and leather decadent superficiality and took the energy of the NWOBHM and in particular Iron Maiden's early releases and super-charged it by infusing it with speed metal's searing attacks and as such, it is to my mind at least, a solid early example of what would later become known as US power metal. The album is chock full of remarkably infectious and memorable riffs, Kenny Powell's solos tend to be short and to the point, eschewing egotistical exhibitionism and J.D. Kimball's vocals aren't at all histrionic like a lot of other PM singers of the time, but have a gruff, cigarettes and whiskey edge, kind of like Joey Belladonna crosed with Bon Scott.The lyrics and aesthetics are based around fantasy literature and movies and whilst they aren't as cheesy as some, they do occasionally cause the odd grimace, the track Be My Wench for example is particularly risible - although it's speed metal riffing is actually pretty damn good let us just say it's lyrics haven't aged well.

Battle Cry isn't anything near as OTT as I would have expected from an early USPM release, but is  solidly put together, the power behind the music being well controlled. In much the same way as obvious influence Iron Maiden, they resist the urge to overdo everything and show a little restraint, to the obvious benefit of the music. On the downside I would have to say that both sides of the album do peter out a little with each of the last two tracks on each side being somewhat less impressive than their predecessors. So despite three and a half decades of ignorance, I'm stoked that I've finally heard this as it is a great introduction to US power metal, a genre I fully intend to explore further.

There's not a lot wrong here I have to say. Considering the fact that I had never heard of the band until this week it is surprising that they have flown under my radar for such a long time with them having such a strong debut to kick off their careers with.  The bands style of aggressive power metal with a NWOBHM edge and some firm nods to the traditional aspects of the heavy metal sound are right up my street I have to admit.

Formed by guitarist Kenny Powell the band had a bit of a disrupted tenure, being completely inactive from 1989 through to 1996.  Their initial first four years together saw a steady decline in quality from their debut culminating in the much derided 1988 offering, Escape to Nowhere featuring Coburn Pharr of Annihilator fame on vocals.  The late J.D. Kimball held the vocal seat for the first three albums and what a great job he did.  His gruff and yet also melodic style embellished the power metal aspect of the band's sound well and is one of the real memorable points from the debut album for sure.

Also of particular note is how tight the band are generally in terms of their sound on this record.  They sound well organised and well-heeled also, taking not overly complex tracks and letting them shine with memorable choruses and energetic lead guitar work courtesy of the aforementioned Kenny Powell.  The percussion section motors along, perpetuating the feeling of the cohesive unit whilst the odd smattering of fantastical theatre elevates the tracks they are present on to new and intriguing heights.

Working tirelessly for ten tracks of enchanted drama the band incorporates a selection of song titles to make the teenager in everyone squeal in delight.  Who doesn't want to hear an album in full when you see tracks like Dragon's Breath, Be My Wench and Prince of Darkness on the album listing?  Neat find to get me through quarantine and beyond.

A battle cry indeed, Omen's debut album is a rip-roaring ride through wild carnage and hedonistic revels. It takes the cheesy glory of NWOBHM and has some real fun with it, though it's a style that will be improved upon in years yet to come.

As a whole, it feels not dissimilar to the epic approach of Manowar, though where they opted for more of a mid-pace stomp, Omen take things a little faster and more ferocious (save for "In the Arena", which is pure Manowar). Where Manowar might be the steady, grandiose march to war, Omen are the energetic battle itself.

However, where I think bands like Manowar or Iron Maiden have the edge is in the uniqueness and focus of their output. With them, everything feels like it's locked on to creating something all their own, each song another flavour of this very clear end goal. Omen are undoubtedly good at what they do, but it's not quite such a unique end product, and a lot of the tracks can end up sounding like different passages of the same song.

Still, while maybe not as flavourful as a whole as some others, Battle Cry does have some killer offerings within. "Death Rider" and the title track are probably the best single examples of their brand of forceful power metal, ramping up the aggression of classic metal and adding in some fantastical theatrics. "Prince of Darkness" is also a blast, full of toe-tapping pace and lyrical acrobatics. The 'sleaze rock in a fantasy setting' lyrics of "Be My Wench" are a bit at odds with the battle metal music, but there's still some tasty forceful riffing there. And "The Axeman" knows exactly what it's about right from the get-go.

All in all, a solid offering of heavy metal beginning to branch out, even if some others managed to form a more distinct identity for themselves.

Choice cuts: The Axeman, Prince of Darkness, Battle Cry, Death Rider