Forbidden - Omega Wave |
Published November 16 2010
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Alpha Century |
| Genre | Thrash Metal |
Russ Anderson
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 12 |
Craig Locicero
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 62 Min. |
Steve Smyth
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Guitar
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| Label | Nuclear Blast |
Matt Camacho
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Bass
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| Release | 25 October 2010 |
Mark Hernandez
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Drums
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| Country | USA |
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Keyboard
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| Producer | Tim Narducci/Craig Locicero | ||
| Similar artists | Testament, Annihilator, Havok | ||
Forbidden, a late-comer to the Bay Area thrash scene, was originally the baby of current Machine Head guitarist Rob Flynn. Flynn would go on to join Vio-lence shortly after and would not play on the band's debut, though three of his songs ended up on it. After two strong albums, Forbidden began to go the way of fellow later-era thrashers, and disintegrated with two unsuccessful '90s releases.
History lessons aside, Omega Wave has been touted as something of a "comeback" record for the semi-obscure thrash act. Their first album in thirteen years, the album purposefully makes a point to recall its roots, complete with an album cover that homages the band's first record, Forbidden Evil. To be candid, I have only listened to the band's two original highly-regarded records and thus find it difficult to judge if the band succeeds in actually "recalling" anything or if they have just continued on the same stylistic path.
That being said, the album is certainly done in the Bay Area vein, with musical elements that are characteristic of the first two aforementioned albums, albeit with more melodic sensibilities. Russ Anderson's voice seems to have lost some if its ability to hit the high register notes with age, and finds itself in something of a generic midrange that isn't quite aggressive enough to support the riffs nor melodic enough to accentuate the reprieves.
Generic seems to be the word du jour for this album in
general. As with so many older thrash acts attempting to get in touch
with their roots - a sentiment that I certainly appreciate - the execution
leaves something to be desired in practice. All of the elements are
there, but the lack of youthful fire and a flat, digital production,
combined with over an hour of staying time really drains the life out
of this one.
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Performance
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Originality
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Production
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Vocals
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Songwriting
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8 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
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Summary
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7 chalices of 10 - Dux |
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