To the uninitiated, a typical Omega Crom performance — hair swinging, guitars slinging and heads banging — might seem like battlefield chaos, but it's all in the name of a good time.
The Vancouver-based thrash power metal band has just released their debut album Blood, Steel and Fire on Reverse Records in collaboration with Juno-award winning engineer Rob Shallcross.
The foursome is on a frantic five-week Canadian tour set to vanquish crowds from the West Coast to Quebec. With an explosive urge to burst a few eardrums, they're stopping by St. Albert's Brew-in Taphouse on Sunday.
Omega Crom's hardcore style features topically driven songs with blistering guitar riffs, a relentless driving blast beat and intense bass guitar attacks. Most prominent is lead singer Johnny Kelto's expansive vocal range that runs from high falsetto wails to hardcore death screams. Rounding out the band is the self-described fierce shredder Wayne Holden, insane bassist Ian “Rapid Mutilation” Wilcke and drummer Dan “The Rock” La Pierre.
As Holden explains it, Omega Crom had been Kelto's vision for more than 10 years. But until four yeas ago, a revolving door of musicians likened it more to a bloody battlefield corpse than a combat-ready warrior.
When Holden signed on, he knew his way around a fretboard, however Kelto moved him into his apartment and put him through guitar shred boot camp. “He was a great teacher who knew how to develop metal guitar playing,” says Holden.
Wilcke's accelerated bass guitar riffs and La Pierre's pounding drums were a seamless fit, and by mixing influences from different genres — Iron Maiden, Sepultura, Slayer, Megadeth and Judas Priest — gave the band a “kick-ass” feel. “We like to take everything and blend it together. We don't want to be pigeon-holed,” Holden explains.
Their nine-track CD deals with weighty social issues such as war, isolation, alienation, playing God and world evil. Their first single Battlefield was inspired by old school hand-to-hand combat. “It was real war, looking each other in the eye.”
And Playing God is critical of the brave new world of clones we are creating. “We have this vision of breeding humans in tanks. We're trying to play God.”
One of the hardest pieces to play is The Prisoner, motivated by Stephen King's Dark Tower series. “It's the speed factor and technical complexity. We like to play it live faster than the record and my right arm just burns when we finish.
“When we come to St. Albert, you're gonna see some pretty ripping guitar solos and face-melting music. It's gonna be a good night of metal.”
The Brew-in Taphouse is at 9020 McKenney Avenue. Doors open at 8 p.m. Cover charge is $5.
