''Omen'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy 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. It was released on May 24, 2010, in parts of Europe. It is the last album to feature bassist Bobby Burns and drummer Joe Nunez who were replaced by

Asesino Asesino (Spanish for "assassin" or "murderer") is an American deathgrind supergroup and a side project of Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares. The band has featured members of Brujeria, Fear Factory, Sepultura, Sadistic Intent, Possessed, Mini ...

frontman, Tony Campos and former

Borknagar Borknagar is a Norwegian heavy metal band from Bergen, founded in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun. The band's style combines black metal and folk metal with progressive and melodic elements. Borknagar's lyrics often deal with philosophy, paganism ...

drummer David Kinkade in mid-2011. At just over forty and a half minutes, it is the band's second shortest album while the shortest being ''

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

'' at thirty-six and a half minutes.

Background

Soulfly entered the Edge of the Earth Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, California on November 6, 2009, to begin recording their seventh album with Max Cavalera and Logan Mader both producing. Through a series of streaming web video updates, frontman Max Cavalera revealed on November 13, 2009, that the album would be called ''Omen'' and would feature guest appearances by Tommy Victor of Prong and Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan. 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 Jr. 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 ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

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.

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." Gregory Heaney of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

said "Omen is like

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

comfort food."

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

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 Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

, and the production keeps things rather simple, clean and loud as all mainstream metal, but always emphasizing the physicality of the rhythm riffing."

Sputnik Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for ...

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."

Songs

"Rise of the Fallen" features

Static-X Static-X is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long-held constant with band founder, frontman, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until hi ...

-like riff with cyber tones, then a

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

signals the beginning of death metal riff. 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. "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.

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.

Personnel

Soulfly

* Max Cavalera - vocals, four-string guitar,

* Marc Rizzo -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...

, flamenco guitar *Bobby Burns -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Joe Nunez -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Additional personnel

*Branden Krull -

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mu ...

s * Greg Puciato - vocals on "Rise of the Fallen" * Tommy Victor - vocals on "Lethal Injection" * Zyon Cavalera - drums on "Refuse/Resist" * Igor Cavalera - drums on "Your Life, My Life"

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omen (Album) 2010 albums Soulfly albums Albums produced by Max Cavalera Roadrunner Records albums Albums produced by Logan Mader Albums with cover art by Travis Smith (artist) Seven deadly sins in popular culture