Max Cavalera’s adventures away from Sepultura continue with the seventh, studio, Soulfly effort despite a lot of wishes for a Sepultura classic line-up reunion after the Cavalera Conspiracy album. Max’s project stopped being a mean for his ethnic experiments after 2005’s “Dark Ages” and became retro and aggressive with many ’80s  Sepultura riffs.

“Omen” is quite strong as presumable. Tracks like "Bloodbath & Beyond", "Vulture Culture" bring to life those punk / metal moments of “Chaos A.D.”; “Great Depression” and “Off With Their Heads” sound more old school while the experiments appear on “Rise Of The Fallen” and “Lethal Injection” in which you’ll listen to guest vocals by Greg Puciato (Dillinger Escape Plan) and Tommy Victor (also guitarist for Prong / Ministry); a more industrial / metal approach. Some new ideas in the lead guitars will bring the latest Machine Head stuff to mind while there are also plenty Slayer stuff included in this CD.

The rest members of Soulfly, Rizzo, Burns and Nunez, remain in their places the last four years, something that makes the result tight and enjoyable besides Max’s vocals that couldn’t be more indifferent. Along with his old partner Logan Mader (ex-Machine Head / Soulfly / green, Rasta haircut!) they have created a dynamic and heavy production with excellent sound in guitars and drums. Unfortunately, this seems to be working on the opposite for compositions which have nothing new to offer, causing the listener to try and search for the new masterpiece track with a microscope!

“Omen” has a rightful place in the Soulfly catalogue but by no means has it represented the band in either of its eras. “Conquer” managed to mix Max’s retro ideas in the bands style and successfully follow the change that was attempted in “Dark Ages”. On the contrary, “Omen”, even if it’s kept the aggression, sounds vague and direction lacking. If one considers that Slayer released “213” 16 years ago and sees a track entitled “Jeffrey Dahmer” in here, he’ll be more convinced that the end of inspiration has come.