New Wave of American Heavy Metal veterans Lamb of God return with their 9th studio album, Omens, which follows up 2020's self-titled release. The band currently features:
John Campbell -bass
Randy Blythe - vocals
Mark Morton- lead guitar
Willie Adler- rhythm guitar
Art Cruz- drums (since 2019)
The album kicks off with "Nevermore", a crushing song, Randy going between his violent growls & shouts and some surprisingly well done clean vocals. Omens is off to a great start. That continues with "Vanishing" another banger with plenty of tumultuous riffing and jackhammer drumming, and that's followed by "To the Grave", a well done thrash/death metal hybrid with a decent chorus and some pummeling breakdowns, but not necessarily something we haven't already heard from LoG. "Ditch" is fast paced, featuring venomous vocals from Randy over intricate drumming and wicked riffs, but I'm already starting to feel like this album is way short on guitar solos, which is surprising. That brings us to the slower, groove metal thumper "Omens", complete with terrific riffing and a pure headbanging, groove-a-licious vibe...digging this one.
"Gomorrah" is another mid tempo number, heavy riffs & groove aplenty, and Randy’s vocals are among the most extreme on the album. For "III Designs", another crushing song with tremendous riffs and a great chorus, we get, what do you know, a guitar solo! That's followed by "Grayscale", a chugging metal track with big riffs and pinch harmonics, which isn't terrible, but awfully generic. The band dip into their hardcore roots with "Denial Mechanism", a fast paced, brutal song that clocks in just under 3-minutes...it's fairly one-dimensional and not really my cup of tea. The best is arguably saved for last with the mini-epic "September", complete with a creepy atmospheric opening, beefy riffs, epic keyboards, and a massive breakdown near the end. I would have liked some wild guitar solos on this one, but that seems to be a complaint I have across the whole album, but a killer closer nonetheless.
All in all, some good stuff here, it’s plenty brutal, but once again, much of this I feel like I’ve heard before from these guys. Good production overall, and Omens is sure to satisfy most Lamb of God fans who hang on every brutal note. While some may find Chris Adler sorely missing here, Cruz does a fine job in my opinion.
Track Listing
01 Nevermore 4:35
02 Vanishing 4:48
03 To The Grave 3:43
04 Ditch 3:37
05 Omens 3:47
06 Gomorrah 4:12
07 Ill Designs 3:41
08 Grayscale 4:00
09 Denial Mechanism 2:37
10 September Song 6:00
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