Best of Omen: Top Tracks from Each Album

Los Angeles-based Omen signed with Metal Blade Records late in 1984. Two years and three albums later, the heavy metal foursome of lead guitarist Kenny Powell, vocalist J.D. Kimball, drummer Steve Wittig and bassist Jody Henry hit what would later turn out as a creative and commercial peak. Never quite “making it” on the level of a band like Metallica when metal went mainstream in the second half of the eighties, though you couldn’t really tell listening to the songs on this compilation.

Listen to the first track and you’ll hear the potential’s there: Holy Martyr, from the third album, grabs your attention from the start with an impressively polished and, what’s more, annoyingly familiar intro. You’ll spend just as much time mouthing Kimball’s hair-raising vocals as you will racking your brains trying to name just which million-selling Metallica or Slayer album you’ve heard Powell’s riffs from before; This when Omen completed their best work before there were any million-selling Metallica albums.

So it’s a shame Omen missed the boat. Kimball left and the band stopped releasing material after 1988, right before heavy metal really took off, when even acts like Pantera became radio-friendly; not that Omen didn’t leave behind a few gems, many of them on Best of Omen:

Hell’s Gates: The last track, and my pick of the compilation; awesome intro, obviously much-imitated, and the rest of the song lives up to a promising beginning (If a little short.), From Warning of Danger.

Bounty Hunter: Omen does really good spoken intros. The rest of it, try and tell me Pantera wasn’t channeling Omen. A lot, From The Curse.

Dragon’s Breath: On the other hand, this one shows Omen’s roots, like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and the kind of music Omen made in general. The kind Viking berserkers listen to before going into battle, battleaxes held high, from the album Battle Cry, naturally.

The average Metallica or Megadeth fan probably hasn’t heard of Omen. But, listening to this collection of tracks, a case can be made they’ve heard Omen just the same. Still, for those who aren’t history buffs, this one stands on its own.