Album Reviews : Ill Omen – Demo 2009

Time and time again I am reminded why Melbourne is the heavy metal capital of Australia. A chance encounter with a young metal head in the line at the Kreator concert in Melbourne this year introduced me to yet another quality Aussie band by the name of Ill Omen.

A Death Metal quartet hailing from Melton in Melbourne’s outer west, the band consists of Braidy Kean on vocals, Jackson Wright on bass, Jess Barnett on guitar and Jake Hamilton on drums. So after adding them on MySpace and a few emails later, I picked up their demo at Missing Link Records.

The cd opens with an eerie organ intro which leads faultlessly into the opening riffs of down tuned guitars. Braidy’s opening growls sound somewhat like a Flying Steed from the Lord of the Rings movies. Blood Ritual is short but brutal in its delivery and wets the appetite for what lays ahead. Silent Demise starts off at an intense pace, a whirlwind of thrash riffage, where their influences really come to the table.

The Forthcoming mixes things up a bit with some beautiful semi-acoustic interludes which showcases their music ability which is far ahead of their years, while the last track For Your Ignorance musically takes a more of a progressive direction, with the bass sounding somewhat reminiscent of Melbourne Metal pioneers Taramis. All the songs have good structure, with some nice guitar riffs, a reliable rhythm section, and some quite unique vocals which combined make for quite a good debut.

Considering this is their first release and home recorded, the production quality is surprisingly good. These guys are young and raw but musically well equipped to become a band well worth while keeping an eye on. Hopefully some of the Melbourne gig promoters jump onboard and we get to see them at a few more gigs in the near future.

Review by Nick Olden

Band: Ill Omen
Album: Demo
Year: 2009
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Self Released
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
http://www.myspace.com/illomenhb

Track listing:
1. Blood Ritual
2. Silent Demise
3. The Forthcoming
4. For Your Ignorance