New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, Classic and Progressive Rock

Omega: The Prophet Review NWOBHM

Omega The Prophet ReviewOmega were around for a few years in the 1980s as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal took off. Their sole album – the Prophet – has had the High Roller Records treatment getting a re-issue with their familiar format of a slipcase containing the jewel case, booklet and a mini-poster of the artwork.

Now, Omega were somewhat different to many of their contemporaries. The Prophet being varied and ambitious in terms of scope, style, composition and variation.

Yes – it’s heavy. Though it also manages to be dark, doomy, catchy and progressive with some of the finest guitar work you’ll hear anywhere.

In trying to bag themselves a record deal, Omega, as was the usual tactic at the time, recorded a demo (known as the Alpha demo) hawking that around record companies. Eventually persistence paid off with the result being The Prophet.

On this re-issue we have the album and the Alpha demo as bonus tracks.

The Dark is a brooding, doomy, dark, creepy and a little unsettling as an opener. The vocals will send shivers. It’s a compelling track all the same and a fine start with riffs aplenty. Shadows of the Past continues in a similar style.

Next up is the title track. Around nine minutes of prog-tinged heaviness with excellent guitar and atmospherics. If Pink Floyd had gone heavy in the 1980s they might have sounded like what Oemga did on this here. Such as well constructed epic demonstrating they did have something of a unique selling point. It’s so good.

Yesterday’s Children brings more variation as the doomy/proggy stuff gives way to a more straight ahead approach. So does Drive Me Crazy with the cheesy lyric and being quite catchy. Then a barking mad cover of the Beatles’ Day Tripper.

The best is certainly reserved for last. The album closer is the quite stunning The Child. Another nine minutes or so which builds in some atmospheric keys slowly brooding and building away raising the tension. You know the breakout is surely coming – and it does indeed.

Around half way in that breakout arrives taking off in the a quite astounding extended guitar solo which is, as mentioned above, one of the best you’ll hear. So inventive and fluid. Not just the guitar which is spectacular. Everything else is too. Have a listen:

As to the Alpha demo – starts with an unusual take on the much-covered Summertime. Heat of the Night, Abandon Hope and Blood Sacrifice show how Omega were able to switch between the doomy and the straight ahead. Then it has an early version of The Child.

Sadly for the band, the album didn’t attract the sales it deserved – probably because it was too nuanced and varied for the typical NWOBHM-era fans ears – and that was that.

If you recall from back in the day when Diamond Head released Canterbury as their follow-up to Borrowed Time it killed their career at the time with the more complicated, ambitious compositions.

Canterbury is in my opinion Diamond Head’s best work. In my view it can be compared here with Omega and The Prophet as being ahead of its time and one of those albums which does deserve the much cliched tag of “lost NWOBHM classic”. It is that good and then some……

Bag it from High Roller Records or Amazon:
https://amzn.to/3Th2Ilk
https://www.hrrecords.de

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