POWER OF OMENS

The second album is from 2002 named Rooms of anguish, is another top class prog metal of the highest complexity. Same line up same attitude as previous album, but now in places they become even more complex and less melodic then on first offer, and the result while is more then ok, is little less catchy the Eyes of the oracle. Is clear that all the all 4 musicians handle very well the instruments, really well, specally David Gallegos the guitarsits in some parts is absolutly kick ass, I wounder how many notes he can play in one second. The rhythmic section is killer. Pieces like A Toast To Mankind with it highly complex arrangenets, keyboards and guitars special, the excellent instrumental The Calm Before The Storm, here all musicins shine not else, very original and enjoyble the spanish guita with the more rougher edgy prog metal parts. All in all I like aswell this album as their first, I prefer their first though being catchier then Rooms of anguish. An unfairly forgotten band that maybe for today listners this type of prog metal sounds date it, when many prog metal acts incorporates in their prog metal music lots of power metal or neo classical elements, Power of Omens even is influenced by bands such as Fates Warning, Queensryche, Psychotic Walts, their music is quite unique and well produced and is 100% pure prog metal with no other genres interfear in their sound. They disbanded in 2005 when the vocalist Chris Salinas will join another top notch prog metal band from USA - Zero Hour.

One of the unfairly little known progressive metal act from USA is Power of Omens. With two albums under the bels, Power of Omens never gained much attention in prog metal circles despite the absolutely killer musicianship, often to the extreme complexity of their music. Their first album appeared in 1998 named Eyes of the oracle, and is the best from the two. As I said the duels between musicins is awesome, the arrangements are highly complicated but also in parts the melodic lines are well crafted and arranged. This type of prog metal needs more then one spin, very demanding and complex with lots of changes in tempo. The vocal lines are clean and powerful, Chris Salinas is one hell of a great vocalist, he manage to have some jaw dropping moments here. The album is quite lenghty almost 75 min of music, maybe little to long, some listners find it monoton after some repeted listnings. The music is a combination of Fates Warning (Perfect symmetry era), Queensryche in vocal departement + with a doze of jazzy interplays here and there all puted in dark atmosphere. Forte pieces, kinda all, no really weak moments , only that sometimes even I'm a big fan of prog metal the band is taking to far with complexity moves losing in melodic zone a lot. Fans of Spiral Architect and aformentiond bands from above will like this album as I deed, but beware this is not another prog metal out there, is unique and intresting in same time.

When I got this Power of Omens "Eyes of The Oracle" couple of months ago, I found it very hard to digest the music. First off, the music is quite raw and has its rough-edge compositions that are not quite accessible with most ears. I understand that there are influences of Fates Warning in the music and Queensrych in vocal department. But, the total music delivery is different.

Second, the music harmony is something very difficult to digest because most of their compositions are complex. Each musician seems like playing their instruments in different direction. This might be okay if the tempo is medium. With fast tempo, each musician seems like losing their control with their instrument. If this is something as complex as Gentle Giant, for example, that is okay because Gentle Giant music is quite moderate in tempo. The situation is even worse with this album because the recording quality - in terms of mixing - is quite sharp and rough. It makes a bit unpleasant listening to it.

The opening track "Inner Voices" (1:14) is quite attractive and makes excellent impact as a prog met album But the next track "Alone I stand" (5:27) demonstrates their music complexities as well as how the music harmonies are not well maintained. Each player seems like losing their control over their roles. If you are interested in the virtuosity of each individual player, you might be okay with this album You can then enjoy "The fall" (12:04) which demonstrates the skills of individual player clearly. You can even hear how powerful the lead singer's voce is, especially during high register notes.

The epic "Test of wills" (19:55) is quite interesting to enjoy as it contains wider music horizon with multi styles. The structure is not really straight forward. The vocal section starts with low register notes and he moves brilliantly into higher resister notes, confidently. The existence of keyboard at background provides symphonic nuance. The drum sound is actually quite annoying and I think this is a problem of mixing instead of lack of skills. The acoustic guitar fills in the middle of the track is really brilliant.

Overall, despite the downsides, I think this album still have some strength points like its richness of textures and varied styles in the composition. I only recommend those of you who love progressive metal with some jazzy touch. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

"Welcome To My World" opens with the sounds of a man walking and the wind is blowing as he stops and knocks on a door. The door opens slowly as he walks in with the door closing behind him.This is followed by some bombastic orchestration as well as male and female vocals. "With These Words" opens with heavy drums that lead to tribal like drumming as the keys and guitar melodies come and go in short bursts.The vocals are powerful and the keys swirl around the heavy soundscape. "My Best To Be..." has more powerful vocals that remind me of a cross between Tate and Adler. Nice background synths as the sound gets mellow with tribal like drumming again. It changes back to heavy with some good guitar solos. "A Toast To Mankind" opens with keyboard runs and guitar solos. More complex instrumental work and arrangements.The guitar solo is great as a keyboard solo follows right behind it. "As Winter Falls" is a fantastic tune. With the wind blowing like in the opener, haunting vocals, keys and acoustic guitar.The keys continue as the heavy riffs comes in. Great sound !

"The Calm Before The Storm" is an amazing instrumental. Beautiful and intricate Spanish guitar leads the way until half way through the song when the heaviness arrives. "In The End" is over 20 minutes long and has everything in it. Synths, orchestral passages, heavy bass and drums, incredible guitar work and female(Michelle Loose) vocals after 10 minutes that are great. "Only A Dream" is another highlight for me. It's a mellow, relaxing tune that sounds so good. Beautiful guitar and gentle vocals. The guitar melodies 4 minutes in are so soothing. "Rooms Of Anguish" is the title song and final one as well. Intricate guitar to open, cymbals and odd metered drumming follow. Vocals come in as bass and drums create a heavy riff. Guitar solos follow as the sound gets very atmospheric as it all slows down. The lyrics on this title track really speak to me. I believe they are about an experience or dream Chris had, and it's pretty incredible.

Great record ! I think Chris' vocals are even more amazing on ZERO HOUR's latest, and I highly recommend both.

fans of "eyes of the oracle" can sleep better at night as they have continued that style and sound, yet have taken it to another level in terms of melody and atmosphere. in fact, i was a bit stunned at the level of keys employed throughout the disc in both atmosphere and soloing. from the opening notes of "within these words" you will be taken back at how they play off the guitar leads. to further the atmospheric point, the band employs a bombastic feel in their orchestrations. while other prog bands tend to use the beautiful and serene sounds of early composers, poo hit you in the gut with the grandiose themes of wagner. for those unfamilar with the classics, think of the soundtrack to "conan the barbarian." power metal bands should take lessons from then on how to write an intro, especially in the chorus department. the male and female counter melodies (is that a real term?) simply play up the feel to the hilt.

their stylisitic differences from generic prog metal continue to amaze me after repeated listens. there are not many other bands that can blend authentic acoustic flamenco guiar spots seemlessly with a rythm section that does its damnedest to make your head spin.

that leads me to the drumming. alex can stand toe to toe with *anybody* in metal. i don't care if your last name is portnoy or zonder. he rolls so many different beats/tones that i simply cannot keep up. his style is simply "over the top" and i truly believe that it leads to the defintie split on embracing the band. some folks simply cannot take the heat so to speak.

david's guitar playing has continued to evolve to the point that he now has a signature sound that i have yet to hear from any other band. he does not play to the rythm being laid down, but "co-exists" with it in my view. if you can ignore everything around him (and that is hard as [%*!#] to do), then you can truly appreciate the chops he is using. i get as giddy as a school girl when the acoustic bits start as nobody, and i mean nobody, does it as well as he does in our circles. furthermore, his solos tend to bleed instead of shred. that is *exactly* what this style of music needs as it keeps the melody with the insanity.

their new bassist (chris herring) more than holds his own throughout the disc. to me the job of a good bassist is to hold everything together. he does that and more as his grooves cut through some crazy leads at times.

chris salina's vocals have not changed a bit. whether he likes it or not, he is tate jr. his upper register does have a slightly different tone than geoff, but when he drops down to mid and low range, you can forget it. he is the tate's twin from 10 years ago. he also uses the same spoken word and tonal inflections during the chorus work as well. it is simply breathtaking.

it would be too much for me to attempt to do a song by song break down. i could not do the disc justice. however, i have to mention three things:

1. the first two minutes of "as winter falls" strike a chill that i cannot shake. it is a despairingly beautiful intro with acoustics, keys, and salinas being godly.

2. the 20 minute cut, "in the end," is going to take me months to figure out.

3. "only a dream" is the most beautiful ballad i have heard this year.

folks, this is 76 minutes of prog metal heaven. do not miss this one.

ESSENTIAL THE BEST MASTERPIECE OF PROGRESSIVE MUSIQUE!!!

Musicianship is stellar, and the vocals are outstanding - the singer sounds very much like Geoff Tate in certain passages, great range and volume in the lower registers.

The production is not as good as it should be - but you can't hold that against them, as they are not a full time band, and don't have a big record company to support them.

- Sometimes it's almost too much going on, with thousands of beats at once, and constantly changing time signatures, making the music very inaccessible. The only things that are missing here are some memorable choruses. This is what separates them from, for example DREAM THEATER. DREAM THEATER is among the best Prog Metal musicians today, but they also got the ability to write memorable songs. POWER OF OMENS should have thought more about that instead of just trying to get it as complex as possible. But after all you could say that this is POWER OF OMENS trademark. To make music for those who like technical skills above all. And you can't find a more appropriate band if that's the case, but they sure wont make any big money on their music. But after all, money isn't everything!

- The songs range from 5 to 20 minutes. It isn't easy to pick out any highlights on a record like this, so I wont. But I have to mention "Test of Wills", which is a 19:55 minute masterpiece that have to be one of the best Prog Metal tunes ever written. It's divided into four pieces, and I love the Spanish guitar on part II "A Struggle Within".

- POWER OF OMENS brilliant progressive music will surely find it's way to the heart of every fan of high technical progressive metal. This must be the best debut album in 1998 and one of the best Prog Metal releases ever. What you have here is a masterpiece and a milestone in progressive metal. Highly recommended!

- Rumors are saying that they have another album in the making, and it's gonna be different compared to "Eyes Of The Oracle". I think that if the new album have got some more hooks, that album will be their breakthrough. No doubt about it! A record to look forward to.