Profane Omen - Inherit the Void

Profane Omen

Inherit the Void

2009

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Finland, also known as any metalhead’s paradise, has brought us terrific bands in just about every metal genre known to man. But even a metal heaven has its bad eggs, and Profane Omen is one of them. This quartet plays melodic groove metal, which is essentially a stone’s throw away from metalcore. Granted, this is much more metal than most metalcore that I’ve been exposed to, but let’s not start genre wars.

I did a full audio search for something that resembled at least mediocrity. And that’s the best I could find, mediocrity. The rest was… well… not good at all. The drums are where mediocrity comes in, pounding fairly heavy beats that groove in a way that is hackneyed and boring. From there it just gets worse. The guitars are boring past the point of mediocrity, and into the chasm of horror. And not cool horror either, bad horror, boring horror, profane horror. They used riffs that have been recycled so much even a member of Green Peace would throw them away. There is, however, a pair of good riffs on the songs “Generation Doom (Count Me Out)” and “Dodge.” The acoustic pieces on the intro and “In the Middle I Breathe” are actually really good but are too short to have enough redeeming value. As far as solos go, they’re equally boring. But it’s not like you have to suffer through them often, as there’s only one or two on the whole album.

Production is actually pretty good, sporting a very sludgy sound without being too messy. But I think the guitar tone could have been stronger, which would have brought the terrible riffs a bit closer bearable. The drums did sound fairly strong though some more bass would have been better.

I don’t even want to talk about the vocals, but I wouldn’t be a very good reviewer if I didn’t. They are a putrid mix of wannabe tough guy screams and growls and whiny pop vocals that attempt to provide a sense of distinction and originality. They fail. Profanely.

Frankly, the worst part is that if they had changed things just a bit, they could have really made something at least decent. If only the riffs were more distinct, if only the vocals found a medium that wasn’t terrible (which I know this singer can do, he does have a voice that COULD be good enough to warrant a better score), but “if only” is just wishful thinking.

Honestly, if you LOVE metalcore, check these guys out, as you may find more value than I did, but if it’s never been your thing, just stay away from this release at all costs. Run out of the record store screaming at the top of your lungs if you see it there. Just. RUN!

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Claus’ Rating 1/5