Ominous

Ominous - Self Titled (review by Pete) www.heavycore.org

I tossed this demo into my CD player and didn't really know what to expect and Ominous delivered the goods in a big way. The quality of the recording is decent for a demo and you can tell these guys did their metal homework with some sweet heavy riffs that brought me back to the late 80's. This three-piece from New Jersey show their metal roots loud and clear as they play a cool mix of death and black metal with some of the most wicked blast beats I've heard in a while.

Some of the heaviest riffs reminded me of some of Obituary at times but the vocals from guitar player/singer Victor were beyond brutal. This guy can really belt it out - sometimes down in the depths with some insane death metal growling and then busting out a shrill scream like he's getting knifed in the back. Or maybe it's some poser scum he's running down in the process? His guitar work was good, with some cool mood music to intro a couple of the tracks that reminded me of old Testament at times. The bass player Eric, and drummer Jayson also did a good job of holding the bottom end down, as all metal bands must do.

The song "13 Years of Pain" is going to be featured on the Heavycore DVD "Roasting Posers Volume I" and it was probably my favorite track on the demo. Very kick ass band with some good old school roots. Check them out for sure at http://loathe.net/ominous
www.sick6sick.com - www.Heavycore.org

Review done by http://home.demonichorde.com

Ominous is a Death Metal band from USA, not to mistake with the Swedish DM combo of the same name. Victor (Lead vocals/guitars), and Jay (Drums) gathered in 2001 and released a four songs Demo the same year.

Eric is added on bass in 2003, and, strong of 3 members, Ominous began to play Live in their area, in New Jersey (opened for Kataklysm & Suffocation), at The Milwaukee Metal Fest 2003, in New York City (Opened for Deicide in Sept.03, will also play November 2, 2003 + Opening for Dying Fetus December 20, 2003), and some shows are also set for Chicago.

Ominous present here their debut CD, self released, composed of 11 tracks of energetic Death Metal, some short tracks executed in a vivid and incisive style. The Intro is made like a horror film with frightening guests noises, murders and terrified screams, that set up the atmospheres of this forceful and restless album.
Sharp riffs and pronounced drumming shape an effective old school style, as in the second 'What is There for Me', played on a mid tempo alternated with ultra fast parts, or the more grinding '13 years of Pain', marked by broken riffs and drum beats on the instrumental passage.

The tracks are varied, and the sudden and short acceleration of the drumming on the rawer parts add brutality and energy to Ominous style, as in the longer and pounding 'Emptiness'. This track even develops some melodic riffs in the intro, guest noises also a solo, and sustained alternated vocals. The guttural yet raspy Death Metal vocals alternate with more screamed tones on the brutal parts, and lower growls dwell the catchier passages. The different vocals fit perfectly the changing style, as on 'Tears of Fear', where screamed vocals mark the ultra fast parts, while low and balanced DM growls add heavier touch to the slow yet doom break.

One of the highlight is 'Lifeless', a changing track opened with softer riffs, then ultra fast parts alternated with short breaks that are enhanced by a dynamic and outstanding guitar work. Ominous keep a balanced and effective Death Metal style, with at times a more modern sound as on the rhythmic 'Intercorpse', or more extreme tones, like on the short and ultra violent 'Dead Cunt', punctuated by the scanned and screamed vocals. Several changes mark the longer tracks & thicken their genuine style as on the powerful 'The Sleeper', raised by a more muffled guitar sound, several breaks and an acoustic outro.

Ominous even dare some darker tones, as on the nostalgic 'Rank', an atmospheric tune contrasting with the other compositions. These acoustic and melodic lines also mark the last and instrumental 'Heart of Sorrow'.

This release strikes as a slap, a good album of brutal & varied Death Metal, get it and head bang, recommended! The layout is a bit succinct but the 11 energetic tracks composing this outstanding album largely make up for this detail, that will for sure be improved as the band will find a Label to set their releases on a proper format. Ominous are so looking for a Label. - http://home.demonichorde.com

Review done by www.geocities.com/morbid666mark/Fey_Victus

Welcome to New Jersey. These guys got some real brutality going on here. Some of the best death metal I have heard in a while. Wile listening I noticed Some extremely fast blast beats that melt into a killer rhythm. I listened to this CD about 2 hours straight trying to find something wrong with it. And I was happily disappointed. In a market so heavily saturated with new death metal bands, it seems like I have been lucky enough to find a few different bands this year that just force you to break your neck banging your head to them, and this is one.
From the out start, a killer intro fallowed by some blasting beats that work into the track "What Is There For me". this tracked gets your chest pumped to prepare for the other tracks. By the time I looked up I was into the 7th track, This is a very easy disc to lose time too. I will not review each song separately because I could say so much about each song. I will tell you that I could not choose a favorite. At the point I thought my neck was going to snap it goes into a guitar instrumental? They do it great. Then it works into the next track which starts out like another guitar instrumental. Then it goes into brutal as hell riffs which by that time I had to sit back and take a breath to catch up. I have not one bad thing to say about these guys. MAKE SURE TO CHECK THEM OUT. http://loathe.net/ominous www.sick6sick.com - www.geocities.com/morbid666mark/Fey_Victus

Review: www.midwestmetal.info
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!!! - www.midwestmetal.info

Article By: Grind Daddy
Ominous - Ominous
Ominous' self titled full length is one of the most unique forms of the art we call death/black metal I’ve heard. The CD starts out with an intro of ramblings and sounds passing by and echo’s of the band's name and leads into the first track entitled 'What Is There For Me'. This track is one of the most intense tracks on the album, and features Victor tearing away his vocal chords and shredding his axe; Eric slapping away at his bass, and Jayson plowing through with his intense drum lines and heart-pounding double bass. Other stand out tracks include: 'Tears Of Fear' and '13 Years Of Pain'. 'Tears Of Fear' is an intense death metal song with some of the heaviest and fastest drum lines and some of the hardest double bass I’ve heard, as well as some of the loudest screaming guitar solos as well. Vocals in this song are as intense as the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Pro Pain, Six Feet Under, and so many more. '13 Years Of Pain' starts out with the guitars calling in the rest of the music followed in by the fast death metal pounds of the snare and toms. The cracks in the voice and the insanity going on in this song is enough to drive a grown man to cry. On top of the good songs, this CD is mastered and produced very well. The artwork was pretty intense and made me think about the band before even opening the CD. I recommend everyone have a copy of this CD in your collection before the band runs out and/or gets signed.

My Rating of this CD
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10
- Grind Daddy

http://metalgospel.com

http://www.metalgospel.com/Reviews/ominousominous.html

OMINOUS - Ominous
(Self released~2003)
I really love stuff like this and these guys from New Jersey sure picked a great name because their sound certainly is ominous. These 9 tracks of mid to fast paced Death Metal will have you writhing in agony from the force of your head banging. They definitely have their roots in good stuff from the US Death scene (IMMOLATION, MOLEVOLENT CREATION, etc.) with some grinding blast moments and a devastating low end that crushes with every riff. I´m telling you this stuff is HEAVY and accompanied by gruesome, venomous growling. It would seem that more than one member takes care of vocal duties because theirs a lot of variety in the vocals with most being the aforementioned gruesome and venomous kind but there are also a bit higher pitched and tortured screams. I’ve always thought Metal is great for the soul but it also turns out that it’s great for a sore back - no doubt caused by the head banging - because this has such a rumbling low end that when you crank it up the entire room shakes ! The disc actually has 11 tracks but the beginning track is an intro and the ending track changes the mood drastically with an acoustic outro. Great stuff that comes highly recommended for Death Metal and even Grind fanatics. You want something that crushes ? You got it with OMINOUS.
-Cheryl
Website: www.sick6sick.com/ominous/index.html
- http://www.metalgospel.com

d addario
evans drum heads
soul tone cymbals
xcel drum sticks
kelly shu - .

d addario
evans drum heads
soul tone cymbals
xcel drum sticks
kelly shu - .