Omen – Battle Cry

(Metal Blade, 1984)

http://www.myspace.com/omenofficial

Reviewed by Jimmy “Explosive Diarrhea” B.

Kloghole’s review of Metallica’s Black Album got me thinking about what makes a band break through to the mainstream. SoDak once presented to me his theory of good bands versus bad bands based upon beauty. Good bands/musicians, according to this theory, tend to be ugly, while terrible bands were pretty, think about Bob Dylan versus Lionel Ritchie, or Jimmie Dale Gilmore versus Billy Ray Cyrus. The talent is on the side of the unpretty. But let’s add another element to this theory, I suspect one reason bands don’t achieve popularity is because they aren’t sexually stimulating. Fleetwood Mac had little success until they added Stevie Nicks; the same was true of Journey until they added Steve Perry. The record labels see potential sales by promoting sexual desire. There are always exceptions, Rush are some ugly bastards who made it, and Riot are some good looking and talented fellas who did not. The beauty argument falls apart when we look at metal bands. I argue that there are two reasons why a metal band remains forever obscure. First, they have technical skills and a need to experiment that can only be satisfied by making inaccessible noise (see Null’s Cannibal Corpse review). Second, they are metal nerds hooked on aggression, in other words they are true to metal and true to their small angst ridden, working-class group of fans.

In my high school there were only two lads who were metal heads in the sense that I described above; we liked aggression. We were into Exciter, Slayer, Anthrax, Exodus, Agent Steel, DRI, etc. We were fortunate that we were into metal when metal as a genre was still learning to crawl. It brought excitement to our otherwise unhappy lives. I bought underground magazines like Kick Ass and Metal Forces, and ordered band demos from the back pages. I am embarrassed to admit that I once owned a demo from the LA glam band Black and Blue.

There are a lot of gems from metal’s formative years that are either unknown or ignored as something archaic by youngsters today. I see it as my duty to bring some of these unheralded records to your attention. My intention is to write a series of reviews detailing the merits of these forgotten metal classics.

In 1985 I ordered a free copy of Metal Blade Record’s catalog. I wasn’t familiar with any of the bands, so I bought records based either on the album cover or the picture of the band itself. One of the strangest and coolest album covers in the catalog belonged to Omen’s Battle Cry record; it’s a gatefold with a very colorful demonic battle scene on the front and a hanged warrior on the back. I must have thought to myself, “holy shit! That can only be pure heavy f’ing metal” I ordered it along with another album by a band called Witchkiller (another lost gem, that sadly I don’t have anymore).

The first thing the listener will notice about Battle Cry is the silly fantasy warrior theme running throughout the album. Silly as it is, it is one of the reasons I find this album so endearing. I love the lyrics about a warrior’s fear while hunting dragons, and the fear of a defeated battle weary soldier who awaits the end at the hands of the executioner. Hell, I even enjoy the rather macho lyrics about a guy who seduces a fair maiden and “makes her his wench.”

The lyrics are belted out by one of metal’s best set of pipes. J.D. Kimball has fantastic vocals, probably closer to Udo from Accept than Ronnie James Dio. But, unlike Udo, J.D. can sing. Kimball alternates between a throaty growl, and passable attempts at singing, sometimes on the same word or phrase. Kimball along with the unique guitar playing of Kenny Powell defines Omen’s sound. Omen songs are basically one long guitar solo overlaid with powerful vocals.

The music on Battle Cry is technically proficient metal. At times they remind me of Iron Maiden, and at other times they make me think of Running Wild (another band who had a couple of forgotten classics) and Grave Digger, bands who were trying to find their niches in the mid-80s and adopted the fraternity unfriendly sound of gruff vocals, angry music and pure metal nerdiness. Omen, in the early years, created a special sound that has never been recreated by anyone. The Omen sound is muscular and aggressive but not super fast or brutal. There are enough tempo changes to keep the listener interested and engaged.

Battle Cry is one of those rare albums that doesn’t possess any bad songs. But they are not all golden, some are mere silver. Two of the songs on Battle Cry, “The Axeman,” and “Battle Cry,” rank among my favorites from the 80s. My friends, you have done me the honor of taking time out of your day to read my rantings, now do yourself and your taint a favor by running out and purchasing this classic album.

I tickled my taint for 9 minutes.