The Omega Experiment - S/T (2012)

Whenever I miss a album from last year that is "Best of the year list" quality I get freaking pissed. I start smashing walls and starts swearing here and there. Ok I may have over exaggerated my reaction there but I do that in my mind whenever this happens to me. That is exactly what happened inside my head when I first heard the self-titled debut from The Omega Experiment. They impressed me with their highly experimental progressive sound that reminds me of Devin Townsend, a resemblance that have been somewhat of a curse to the band. Most of the metal community has ignored this band only for the similarities with the Canadian mad man. I only see that resemblance as an upside since there are very few acts in the world that even comes close to making this style of music. I can, however, agree on that the vocals can be distracting since they are also very similar to Devin's style.

Anyhow, the music in "The Omega Experiment" is heavy but still uplifting and epic. And the musicality is sometimes not perfect but still really impressive for a band that is relatively new. It is especially the keyboards that is impressing the most when they drift of into infinity and beyond.

The spectacle begins with the happy tune "Gift" that could easily be a theme song for the track Rainbow Road in Mario Kart. It is uplifting but it also have that special outer space touch. But this track is probably not for those of you who wants heavier stuff. No you should instead check out the following giant "Stimilus", a track that is a progressive metal fans wet dream. Epic intro? Check! Tempo shifting? Check! Crazy ass parts where the band goes ape shit? Surprisingly, hell yeah check!!! "Stimulus" is a ten minute ride that makes sure that no one gets out bored or unsatisfied.

The outer space feeling continues through the easily accessible "Motion" and the calm and soothing "Tranquility" until we get blasted with the clearly hardest song on the album, which is "Furor". Here we get crazy blast beats and scary keyboard notes thrown at us in high speeds while the singer Dan Wieten puts on his most aggressive voice. It is an aggressive assault and I should be terrified but just cannot stop smiling every time this song goes through my speakers. Cause in all that anger we have a small light of hope which just increases the awesomeness this song is sending out. I am not sure if the mastermind Devin Townsend himself could have done "Furor" better, this is probably as perfect as a song can be.

The remaining songs on this album are pretty pale compared to "Furor" but they still have their moments. I Like the heavy "Karma" for its attitude and its speed and also "Terminus" has its moments with a sound that is very similar to the sound you find in the Devin Townsend Project album "Epicloud". The last song "Paramount" is not my favourite from the album but it is a uplifting and fitting ending on one of the best debut albums in the 21st century.

As I said in the beginning of this review, this album would have easily made it into my best of 2012 list if I discovered it at that time. It may not have made it into the top five but it definitely would have deserved a top ten spot. But I am still happy that I have experienced this fantastic progressive album. This band has a really bright future ahead of themselves.

Songs Worthy of Recognition: Furor, Stimulus, Karma, Motion

Rating: 9/10 Gifts