Eternal Black Dawn

Upon hearing the name Crash Music, one tends to think of a company that has signed a lot of young bands from the metal underground — underground as in death metal, black metal, grindcore, metalcore, and hardcore. The Phoenix, AZ-based company hasn't worked with a lot of veteran artists, but it has worked with some, including Diamond Rexx, Paul Di'Anno (who was Iron Maiden's lead singer before Bruce Dickinson), and Omen. An underexposed fantasy metal/power metal band that goes back to 1983, Omen has never been a big name in the headbanger world, but it does have a small cult following. Although released in 2003 — the year that marked Omen's 20th anniversary — Eternal Black Dawn sounds like it could have been recorded in the late '70s or early '80s. This CD is fantasy metal/power metal in the classic sense — classic as in Maiden, Ronnie James Dio, UFO, King Diamond, and Judas Priest. In fact, Eternal Black Dawn is totally untouched by post-'80s, post-Nevermind trends in metal and hard rock; the disc is oblivious to alternative metal and there isn't a trace of grunge, death metal, rap-metal/rapcore, industrial metal, or even thrash to be found on any of the songs. Eternal Black Dawn is loud and aggressive, but not in a harsh, punishing, go-for-the-jugular way. Omen's work is actually quite melodic — especially compared to some of the ultra-brutal, ferocious death metal and metalcore that Crash Music has released in the 21st century. Eternal Black Dawn isn't as consistent as it could have been, but for the most part, Omen's writing is decent — and while the disc falls short of exceptional, it's worth checking out if you're a die-hard fan of old-school fantasy metal.