Omen (Soulfly album)

Omen
Studio album by Soulfly
Released May 18, 2010
Recorded November 2009
Genre Groove metal, thrash metal,[1] death metal
Length 40:35
Label Roadrunner
Producer Max Cavalera, Logan Mader
Soulfly chronology
Conquer
(2008)
Omen
(2010)
Enslaved
(2012)
Singles from Omen
  1. "Rise of the Fallen"
    Released: April 20, 2010
Alternative cover
Special edition cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
Allmusic[1]
Rock Sound[3]
Blabbermouth[4]
Sputnik Music[5]
Ultimate-Guitar.com[6]
PopMatters[7]

Omen is the seventh studio album from the metal band Soulfly. It was recorded in November 2009 and was released first in Japan on May 18, 2010 and on May 25, 2010 in other parts of the world.[8] It was released on May 24, 2010 in parts of Europe.[8] It is the last album to feature bassist Bobby Burns and drummer Joe Nunez who were replaced by Asesino frontman, Tony Campos and former Borknagar drummer David Kinkade in mid-2011.[9] At just over forty and a half minutes, it was the band's shortest album until Archangel was released five years later, which runs for thirty-six and a half minutes.

Background

Soulfly entered the Edge of the Earth Studios in Los Angeles, California on November 6, 2009 to begin recording their seventh album with Max Cavalera and Logan Mader both producing.[10] Through a series of streaming web video updates, frontman Max Cavalera revealed on November 13, 2009 that the album would be called Omen[11] and would feature guest appearances by Tommy Victor of Prong and Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan.[12] Additionally, the album features performances on drums from Max's first son Zyon Cavalera on a b-side cover of Sepultura's "Refuse-Resist" and his youngest son Igor Cavalera on a cover of Excel's "Your Life, My Life".

The seven figures in album art of Omen (on the standard edition three figures are on the cover, and four are on the back), created by David Ho, are meant to represent that this is Soulfly's seventh studio album. Each of the seven figures, inspired by the fictional Star Wars creatures the Tusken Raiders, were also meant to represent each of the seven deadly sins from what they hold in their hands. In fact, Cavalera saw Ho's stylized depiction of Tusken Raiders created for LucasArts and requested an album cover similar in style.[13]

Reception

Jay H. Gorania of about.com showed good praise about this album, "it is brutal and fast, though not necessarily as intense or interesting as the releases marking Cavalera's early and mid-period work. Yet this is a transition from what has become a mediocre band to one that sounds vital and refreshing."[2] Gregory Heaney of Allmusic said "Omen is like thrash metal comfort food."[1] PopMatters rated this album 5 out of 10 stars, saying "Cavalera sounds more focused than usual, his lyrics are more angry than spiritual, the band leans more towards thrash than nu-metal, and the production keeps things rather simple, clean and loud as all mainstream metal, but always emphasizing the physicality of the rhythm riffing."[7] Sputnik thought this album is great, because it "exhibits the same rough formula but unlike other Soulfly albums these tracks display a higher level of writing style, musical ability and a better use of creative ideas in a more mature and cohesive manner."[5]

Songs

"Rise of the Fallen" features Static-X-like riff with cyber tones,[2] then a sitar signals the beginning of death metal riff.[14] The song features Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan. "Great Depression" plays such thrashy riff that it sounded like train derailing, before abruptly settling down into Hellhammer-like riff for chorus.[2] "Kingdom" is a unique song for Soulfly due to melodic vocals by Max Cavalera. "Vulture Culture" is a rhyming song title that has hints of Nailbomb sounds and punky riffs.[15]

Track listing

All songs composed by Max Cavalera, except "Rise of the Fallen" by Max Cavalera and Greg Puciato, "Lethal Injection" by Max Cavalera and Tommy Victor.

No. Title Length
1. "Bloodbath & Beyond"   2:31
2. "Rise of the Fallen" (Featuring Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan) 4:35
3. "Great Depression"   3:57
4. "Lethal Injection" (Featuring Tommy Victor of Prong) 3:05
5. "Kingdom"   3:55
6. "Jeffrey Dahmer"   2:52
7. "Off with Their Heads"   4:22
8. "Vulture Culture"   4:01
9. "Mega-Doom"   3:04
10. "Counter Sabotage"   3:50
11. "Soulfly VII" (Instrumental) 4:23
Total length:
40:35
Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks[16]
No. Title Length
12. "Four Sticks" (Led Zeppelin cover) 4:40
13. "Refuse/Resist" (Sepultura cover) 3:10
14. "Your Life, My Life" (Excel cover) 3:14
Total length:
51:39
Deluxe Edition DVD: Live at the With Full Force Festival, Germany – July 3, 2009[16]
No. Title Length
1. "Blood Fire War Hate"    
2. "Sanctuary (Cavalera Conspiracy cover)"    
3. "Prophecy"    
4. "Back to the Primitive"    
5. "Seek 'N' Strike"    
6. "Living Sacrifice"    
7. "Enemy Ghost"    
8. "Refuse/Resist (Sepultura cover)"    
9. "Doom"    
10. "L.O.T.M."    
11. "Molotov"    
12. "Drums"    
13. "Warmageddon"    
14. "Polícia (Titãs/Sepultura cover)"    
15. "Unleash"    
16. "Roots Bloody Roots (Sepultura cover)"    
17. "Jumpdafuckup"    
18. "Eye for an Eye"    
19. "Unleash (music video)"    

Personnel

Soulfly

Additional personnel

Chart performance

Chart (2010) Peak
position[17]
Belgian Album Chart 84
Dutch Album Chart 42
Billboard 200 73
Greek Albums Chart 1

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Allmusic review
  2. 1 2 3 4 Jay H. Gorania (2010). "Soulfly Omen Review". About.com Heavy Metal. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  3. Rock Sound review
  4. Blabbermouth review
  5. 1 2 Sputnik Music review
  6. Review at Ultimate-Guitar.com
  7. 1 2 Adrien Begrand (3 June 2010). "Soulfly: Omen". Review. PopMatters. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Soulfly Tour With Prong, Incite & Rotting Corpse, Album Out in May". Roadrunner Records. Retrieved 2010-03-04. External link in |publisher= (help)
  9. Soulfly Reveals New Bass Player Tony Campos
  10. Jon Wiederhorn. "Soulfly Returning to Studio in November". Noisecreep. Retrieved 2009-10-22. External link in |publisher= (help)
  11. Robert Pasabini. "Exclusive SOULFLY In-Studio Update (including tentative album title)". MetalInjection.net. Retrieved 2009-11-14. External link in |publisher= (help)
  12. Bobby Burns. "7th album in 2009???". soulflyweb.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27. External link in |publisher= (help)
  13. DiNitto, Jay (May 26, 2010). "Soulfly, 'Omen' -- Album Art of the Week". Noisecreep. AOL Music. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  14. "Omen Soulfly". CD Reviews. Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  15. "SOULFLY - Omen". Reviews. APESHIT. July 29, 2010. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  16. 1 2 "Soulfly: 'Omen' Limited-Edition CD/DVD Details Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner. March 26, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  17. "Omen chart performance". Ultratop. Retrieved 28 May 2010.
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