Search - Soulfly :: Omen

Soulfly Stays Consistent

J. Hill | South Charleston, WV | 05/26/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I picked up the special edition, so this goes for the cd (I'll get to the DVD later). For Soulfly, this is another high-quality album that stays consistent with their others while trimming down some of the extra elements. The songs are very good thrash/groove with good musicianship. The most positive things about Omen are:



--many of the songs incorporate more melody than a lot of Soulfly's stuff. This gives a few of the songs a classic, 80's metal feel but in a modern way, a trend that a lot of metal bands are onto now. I'm glad Max keeps his sound current while staying true to his "roots."



--the first song has no intro whatsoever; it immediately bludgeons you with some of Max's harshest vocals I've heard. The second half of the song is the first sign of more melody in Soulfly's sound.



--the songs Kingdom, Vulture Culture, Mega-Doom, and Counter Sabotage. I like the spoken parts in Mega-Doom, and Kingdom and Counter Sabotage are probably the most fresh-sounding songs on the album (IMO). Vulture Culture is just an awesome hardcore/thrash song.



--Soulfly VII is very surprising, and very cool. I won't spoil how, but it differs noticeably from other Soulfly instrumentals.



--the lyrics are somewhat better than on the last couple of albums, which were very repetitive and simple.



My only complaints would be that a few songs seem to end abruptly, rather than naturally progress to a conclusion. Also, two songs, Jeffrey Dahmer and Off With Their Heads (songs 6 and 7) are pretty average for Soulfly. Having them right in the middle lessens the momentum just a bit. And lastly, Soulfly's sound is definitely not as diverse as it used to be. I have to say that I kind of miss the Brazilian tribal influences that make Max's music so unique. The creativity that sparked the first album and Primitive seems to have dropped just a little over the years, but Soulfly is still one of the best metal bands in the business. Therefore, five stars!



Now for the special edition. The bonus tracks on the cd alone nearly justify the higher price, but the concert is awesome!!

I've seen Soulfly live once, and this DVD helped me relive that incredible experience. Great set list!



"

Incendiary

Michael | FL United States | 06/12/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Conquer came out in 2008, I was floored. Not like I wasn't floored by other Soulfly albums. That one was one of the most listened to out of some others I own. Now we have the followup Omen, which was co-produced by ex-Soulfly and ex-Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader (Cavalera Conspiracy, Divine Heresy). For starters, there's no intro to ease you in. Soon as you press play, instant insanity all the way through until the Soulfly instrumental. Where Conquer had more thrash and death metal influences, this is basically a hardcore punk album with some thrash scattered about. Nothing wrong with that as these influences are evident in other records Max Cavalera has done. Unlike other Soulfly albums, which typically go over 50 minutes, this one is the shortest at around 40 minutes. For some that may feel that the album is over too quick once they're done listening, that's where the special edition comes in. The three bonus cover tracks push it over 50 minutes, and they're great ones as Max's sons Zyon and Igor (not Max's brother) had performed drums on two of them. My favorite, of course, is the "Refuse/Resist" cover which sounds just like how Soulfly plays it live, and if you haven't heard it, it's very similar to the original Sepultura version. The best part is the bonus dvd. Those that own the Conquer special edition will kind of have an idea how the dvd is set up: you get a full live show and one music video. This time, the show was filmed at the famous With Full Force festival in Germany in 2009. The setlist on the other dvd was really good, but I think I like the one on here more. They kind of teased a little bit by playing an abbreviated version of "Sanctuary" by Cavaera Conspiracy rather than the full song, but it was still killer. A lot of favorites here and there including a few tracks from Conquer which was great, and they even played a couple of Sepultura favorites ("Refuse/Resist" and 'Roots Bloody Roots"), as well as live favorite "Polícia." One of my favorite moments was seeing Max's stepson Ritchie Cavalera onstage doing his best performing "Unleash" with the band. On several recordings, I never found his vocals great, but he did a good job doing the song, plus it was cool to finally be able to put a face together with his voice as I've never seen him, only heard him on studio and live recordings. The music video for "Unleash" with Dave Peters from Throwdown is featured. All in all, this is a great special edition like so many I've bought. I know that Roadrunner has a bad habit of reissuing albums as special editions after an album is first released, but they're usually top quality. The same goes for this even though it was released same day as the standard version. So if you're gonna buy the album, buy the special edition. You won't regret it."

Excellent album from max cavalera

Wreckedneck | jacksonville, florida United States | 07/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Max cavalera still impresses me. after all these years this man came up with some of the best riffs, and singing ideas that most metal musicians would never even dream of in their entire career. You can see that Sepultura did not not show much after he and his brother departed. When Max formed Cavelera Conspiracy, you could tell that the bond that was in Sepultura came back together. I can only imagine what type of great albums would the Old Sepultura members have come up with if they didnt break up. But the moral of the story is, if you like "The Dark Ages, Conquer" you should definetely own this one also. ITS AWESOME!!!!!"