Customer Reviews

Omen

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

I like Soulfly . I have all their albums , and i prefer Primitive and Darg ages while their other albums are not bad but just ok. Well this album is bad. They try to play <<tough metal>> but they lack the good compositions like those in Chaos ad and the result is terrible. THe only listenable track is Soulfly vi - the rest are worst than you van imagine. THis album is only for Soulfly <. fans and collectors.

I have been a Soulfly fan since the beginning. I loved how diverse the songs were and how,to my knowledge, no other metal band had this kind of range. I continued on with Primitive, 3, Prophecy, Dark Ages, and Conquer. But I started to notice a trend with each album. Every release started to drift back to the Sepultura sound that,according to Max, he was trying to get away from. Dark Ages started to push in that direction but was still a solid album! Then comes Conquer with it's handful of songs that were still reminiscent of the Soulfly sound. I stuck with them though and remained optimistic that it was just a slump or that maybe Max wanted to get back to his roots for a little while.(Cavalera Conspiracy for example.)I decided to stick with the tribe and buy the new album. Though it wasn't surprising to hear the same uninspired sludge as what was on Conquer, it was however disappointing. I mean I thought the point of Soulfly was to make a band and sound that differed from the typical B.S. that you hear from every other metal band! With that said, I will still remain hopeful that Max will take THIS band back to it's roots!!

This album is great, which i expected considering that since Dark Ages(my favorite SF album to date)they have really set the bar high(er). Max does some new things with some very old school retro metal as well, his guest singers whom i'm not that familiar with are stellar, i think the guy from Dillinger Escape Plan sings on Rise Of the Fallen in which he sounds like a jacked up Steve Souza(x-Exodus) and the songs just grooves along with rage and heaviness, along with great work from Rizz. Speaking of Rizz this is the best work he has done by far from a creative perspective, he doesnt only just shred but also puts a very versatile take on different finger tapping melodies with strange guitar effects. Another great example of this is Lethal Injection in which there is a very melodic hook where he makes his guitar actually sound like a keyboard, and its such fluent playing you would think thats what it was. The whole album just has so much variety, you get every thing from Sepultura era(Great Depression, Mega-Doom, and Counter Sabotage), to Nailbomb(Blood Bath and Beyond, Off With There Head, and Vulture Culture), to a mixture of all with great songs like Kingdom, Rise Of the Fallen, Lethal Injection, and Jefferey Dalmer. This makes for a great album that touches on Maxes whole career and mixes it up so that you get a taste of everything he's done on one album, without leaving the Soulfly roots as well. Within every song there are definite hints of the ole tribal days of SF, its just hard for me to listen to the album and say yes this is Soulfly and Soulfy only. So those expecting another Prophecy, or even the first album may or may not be disappointed when they first listen. But make no mistake even if you think its sup par keep listening all the way through every song and you'll find something awesome in everyone, whether its a hook, a breakdown, or just all out chaos and sweeps from Rizz, which we all knew he could do. So even though Max has reached over the 40 year old mark now, he sounds just as good if not better at times then when he was in his early 20's! So for all fans of Soulfly, Nailbomb, and Sep, your in for a great treat. Btw i'm glad Max never rejoined Sepultura because the music they have made without him just stinks, and he probably wouldnt have all the freedom he has now if he would have stayed with them. Make no mistake the last 3 Soulfly albums are right up there with Arise, Chaos A.D, and Beneath the Remains, so i'm ready for more! Even though that may be awhile.

Favorites of mine
Rise Of The Fallen
Great Depression
Lethal Injection
Kingdom
Mega-Doom
Counter Sabotage

All are great but these are the ones i like the most. So pick it up, you'll love it.

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.

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!!!!!

This album comes at you hard and fast with powerful riffs and instrumental ability. My only regret is the now obvious disappearance of the Brazilian tribal influence that was felt on the self titled debut and Primitive albums. Seriously, those are the only 2 Soulfly albums that have stood the test of time in my music collection.

I'm not sure how Max keeps doing it but he created another gread album. If you already like Soulfly, you won't be disapointed. Rise of the Fallen is one of my favorite all-time songs already.

superb album especially songs rise of the fallen n' lethal injection. but the album conquer was better. still worth it anyday.

Soulfly have grown a lot. The power of vocals, lyrics and metal music creates a feeling of real prophecy coming true soon. I admire their ability to combine rythm with meaning. This is pure energy! Thank you for Kingdom, Lethal Injection, Rise of the Fallen, Off with their Heads, Mega Doom, Bood Bath and Counter Sabotage! It is a harmony within the sense of chaos. I believe Solfly will be better with every next album.