Profane Omen's metal is definitely broad in style. The band have released mostly demos before and this is another self-produced effort. Looking at the logo, one might think Profane Omen (PO from now on) are another goth metal band, but gladly this is not the case.

PO's stuff is heavy rocking, groovy modern souding metal. They do sound American quite a lot, but there's some Finnish melancholy here. Interesting concept. And what's better, it works! 'Father' and 'Burial Hymn (Gravelands)' are slower songs, but not ballads. The music is surprisingly tight considering the easiness to flop with this kind of stuff. Every song does work alone or as a package as well.

Lyrics are about bad side of life, but don't shine or kick. Vocalist Jules Näveri suprised me. He uses clean (not very high), rough, more emotional, growl and shouting vocals. Everything he does work well, probably because he's not aping anybody else. The playing is a joy to listen to, because the band sounds experienced yet relaxed. Nino Laurenne (guitarist of Thunderstone, ex-Antidote) turned the knobs in the studio and made this sound heavy and pounding.

If this was a demo (the band sent me a copy of CD and cover), this would be on my top "5 favourite demos ever" -list. But as this is a mini-CD, it is good, partly excellent. If groovy metal rocks your world, give this a spin or more. Generally well done stuff. Just try to add more originality to the debut full length album.

Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
04/01/2003 13:06