Bad Omens – Self-Titled
Sumerian Records
Review by: Callum Doig
The Sumerian Records label has been giving many bands a great home, from Periphery to Circa Survive. And now, we see metalcore newcomers Bad Omens, all the way from the United States, come right out of the womb with their eponymous self-titled record. This album is sure to make a positive first impression to their new, burgeoning audience from all over.
Bad Omens give off a straightforward, menacing and pivotal vibe in each track, with hardly a single moment of peace and composure until you make your way up to Crawl, which later makes its homecoming to the dark and antagonistic compositions. Some of the more grim and dismal songs, including Malice, Hedonist and Exit Wounds, conduct an extreme and zealous attack that keep Bad Omens away from any stale or monotonous trails that many metalcore acts often become stuck in.
Vocalist Noah Sebastian distributes a heavy as hell dose of fear in his voice, and also has his moments where he executes an Oli Sykes-esque style in his strained yelling, while also giving a nice bravura in his cleaner tones in different instances. The organisation between all the instruments is on another different and vigorous level, where every musician in Bad Omens thrives on each other’s energy and technicality in order to succeed in turning the LP into one hell of a monstrous creation. All of the quality in the product and recording is set in a clean and sturdy package, which make Bad Omens‘ personality that comes across on the album more fluent alongside the collection of tracks that keep the Self-Titled in shape.
A majority of the songs display much variety from song to song, and Bad Omens deliver that promising and captivating result in the translation of the metalcore sound. With all the pieces laid together in twelve different sections, there’s a strong aura from Glass Houses to The Fountain that automates the beast that is Bad Omens and this formidable self-titled record.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaE5gEnZm_c&w=854&h=480]
