Metal Underground.com

After the successes of the past three Soulfly albums, as well as the Cavalera Conspiracy debut, it seemed like Max Cavalera could do no wrong...but it turns out that he could. "Omen" is an album composed almost entirely of filler, with forgettable riffs, terrible lyrics and predictable song structures. It's almost like Cavalera sleepwalked through songwriting, making the most generic and uninspired music that he's made since "Primitive." Correction, the most generic and uninspired music that Max has ever made, period.

It's clear that the album was rushed when it opens with the beginning of the first verse without any sort of buildup whatsoever. It's just random, immediate and even most grindcore albums would attempt to build some sort of atmosphere before the vocals start. Most of the riffs on "Omen" are short, simple and repeat throughout the entire song. They only change depending on whether or not it's a verse or chorus riff, while the majority of songs all follow the same structure.

Moreover, song lyrics like the chorus for the track "Mega-Doom," "Welcome to mega-doom, enter the mega-doom, follow the mega-doom. Killing, bleeding, killing, bleeding, killing, bleeding" or "Jeffrey Dahmer's" chorus of "Jeffery Dahmer, master cannibal. Jeffrey Dahmer, master of the gruesome" are not only below anything that Barbatos could write, but also show no imagination. Worse yet, Marc Rizzo's solos that should be the saving grace of this album seem like they were inserted randomly with nothing building up to them and do not fit the music on any track that they appear in. They're simply there just to ram home the fact that this band still has a lead guitarist.

The world music influences that Soulfly is known for only appear on the closing instrumental, which will most likely never be played live and goes nowhere musically, showing just how little effort went into the songwriting compared to earlier efforts. In fact, the only track that actually seems to have any decent ideas was a collaboration with a guest musician. "Rise of the Fallen" manages to create a decent sense of groove while electronics buzz away in the background and Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan takes over lead vocals. It's incredibly obvious that Puciato played a role in the songwriting compared to how well this track came out in comparison to the bland music of the rest of "Omen." It's a breath of fresh air that comes way too soon in an album borne of burnout and contractual obligation, particularly when many of the other tracks simply sound exactly the same.

On the plus side, Max Cavalera will never make an album this bad ever again since it would take an effort to top "Omen" in terms of migraine-inducing bad music. Congratulations, Max. You've finally made your version of "Octagon." Now excuse me while I listen to "Beneath the Remains" and "Dark Ages." Avoid at all costs.