OMEN - Warning Of Danger 40th anniversary LP (SPLATTER) (PREORDER)

NB! Preorder item, release July 11.

USPM was such a short and area-specific movement that very few bands emerged with more than one classic album; or even more than one decent album. Originally overshadowed by the NWOBHM, thrash would take over in popularity before USPM really had a chance to get off the ground. Only a couple of bands would gain even remote commercial success (Queensryche, Fates Warning, Jag Panzer), and only a handful of others would go on to achieve any significant level of recognition. Omen were one of those bands, and with good reason - Battle Cry is one of the pinnacles of USPM, and the following two albums were nearly as good. Only a few other bands were able to produce three or more quality albums - Helstar, Manilla Road, Shok Paris, Virgin Steele, and Liege Lord are pretty much the extent of that list. That said, Manilla Road and Virgin Steele are the only bands in that last to release three or more albums classic enough to be comparable to Omen's first three. From '84-'86, Omen stood as probably the strongest pillar of USPM in existence.

One of the greatest things about Omen is vocalist J.D. Kimball. Along with Harry Conklin and Patrick Brown (Oblivion), Kimball was one of the strongest blue collar USPM singers of the 80s. His powerful, gruff, roaring midrange is just about the most battle-thirsty thing out there, and while his level of pure testosterone doesn't quite match that of Conklin's performance on Ample Destruction, it's about as close as you can get, and the savage bite to his voice is second to none. Although his delivery here is a bit more melodic than it was on Battle Cry, it's by no means inferior, and it fits the slicker, more power metal approach better. Whereas the previous album had a big NWOBHM influence, that's pretty much taken out here, with more of a Metal Church influence in its place.

Ltd. 500x 40th anniversary reissue on clear blue orange red splatter vinyl.

Metal Blade 2025