Omen’s debut album Battle Cry, showed a very talented band that wasn’t able to fully absorb its influences, or find a way to balance its material. In a nutshell, it was a really promising yet somewhat immature first effort. But these were the good times; through hard work, the better bands wouldn’t need more than a few years since their inception to reach their full potential. In Omen’s case, it took them two years to release their best record and one of the true landmarks of epic/power metal. In Warning of Danger, their second effort, one can witness Omen’s talent at its fullest. While the ingredients are pretty much the same, since the Iron Maiden influence is still evident and the band still depends too much on the effectiveness of the dual guitars, the galloping, muscular riffs and JD Kimball’s commanding vocals, this record is much richer than their debut and a work that couldn’t be accused of lacking variety or ambition at all.
Warning of Danger starts off in typical Omen fashion, with the fast and incredible title track, but one can’t help noticing the significantly heavier production, and JD Kimball’s even more confident voice. Speed is welcome in Warning of Danger too, as indicated in Termination, which competes with thrash metal in excitement and ferociousness, but this time it’s not essential. As a matter of fact the best Omen here can be heard in Don’t Fear the Night (a downright epic) and Hell’s Gates, where they dare to experiment with slower paces, more complex structures, and acoustic guitars, or in tracks like March On which features pounding riffs that lead to a very memorable chorus. Omen sound strong, tight and in killer form overall, while performing their magnificent blend which now consists of two parts epic and one part power metal. Some weaker moments such as Make Me Your King couldn’t be avoided, but the fact remains that Warning of Danger is the closest Omen got to recording their very own classic album. If they have a loyal fanbase that still cares for new material they owe it mainly to the incredible level of quality Warning of Danger (and to a smaller extend their debut album) displayed.
