Dire Omen

Promo 2011

Written by: PP on 05/06/2011 02:58:57

Dire Omen are a blackened death metal quartet from Edmonton, Canada, a refreshing change considering how few conventional death/black metal outfits the North American scene produces these days. It seems to be all about either symphonic black metal, deathcore and metalcore these days from that part of the world, but that perception is something Dire Omen are looking to change on their three track 2011 promotional record, simply titled "Promo 2011".

Given this is a low-budget, DIY sort of release, it's no surprise to find the production lagging behind what is the standard in the genre. But yet Dire Omen do a decent enough job as evident by the pounding bass guitar (and blast beats), though the guitars could of course be a little higher in the mix. Soundwise, the band references the technical death metal barrages of bands like Morbid Angel, and gives nods towards Immolation, perhaps even Six Feet Under considering the low-fi growls of their vocalist. The riffs are fairly good and well constructed for the genre, albeit somewhat unambitious and conventional in the 'nothing new under the sun' kind of way. That doesn't need to be a bad thing, though, and it isn't, as the mid-tempo pummeling of "Serpent's Child" so well demonstrates. Another band you might want to recall in connection with Dire Omen is Adversarial, another North American death metal unit starting to make some waves in the scene, though they are of course much further in their career than Dire Omen at this point.

With just three tracks to evaluate the band by, however, it does appear difficult to form a thorough picture of what Dire Omen are capable of. "Promo 2011" namely shows a band taking baby steps in the (blackened) death metal world, displaying some promise but as is often the case with early demos, it's just too soon to tell how big of an impact Dire Omen will make on their eventual full length.

6

Download: Serpent's Child.
For the fans of: Morbid Angel, Immolation, Adversarial
Listen: Myspace

Release date 11.03.2011
Self-Released

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