Music

[Review] The Omega Experiment ‘The Omega Experiment’

Published

12 years ago

February 13, 2012

It is becoming more and more apparent with each passing day that the quality of music that can come from a home studio can equal, if not surpass, what professional studios offer. Bands and artists have access to plug-ins and effects that would boggle the mind of the music industry not even a decade ago. Such is the case with unsigned band The Omega Experiment’s self-titled debut album. Built as an outlet for mastermind Dan Wieten’s troubles with addiction, this prog/djent metal album is a slick, fantastic sounding album. But does it have substance behind the glossy mask?

The album opens with The Gift, a six-minute track that mixes gratuitous vocal harmonies with positive, almost joyous heavy guitar riffing. Sprinkles of piano pepper the background, popping forth into the foreground here and there. It’s a perfect song to set the tone for the album.

As the songs progress, the theme of addiction and recovery become more and more apparent. The music becomes more insane and there are voiceovers of, what I can only assume are, frontman Dan Wieten describing his path in and out of drug addiction. The chaotic whirlwind ending of Tranquility dives immediately into the heavily Devin Townsend-inspired track Furor.

The production on this album is top-notch. For an unsigned band to sound this good is pretty much the ultimate slap in the face to the mainstream recording industry. Guitars sound lush, drums sound tight and snappy, and the overall mix is nearly 100% spot on. This is an album that home musicians should look at for inspiration.

The one thing that really stood out to me was the obvious love of Devin Townsend. While I can understand the influence (hell, the man is a musical genius), there were times when the music felt almost derivative rather than homage. I’m hoping that another album will see this band fine tune their own sound.

The Final Word: The Omega Experiment has brought a lot on this self-titled debut. While I’m definitely very impressed, I find that I’m more interested in what the next album will bring.

JonathanBarkan

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

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Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…