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The Omega Experiment: The Omega Experiment

Progressive Rock/Metal

4.0/5.0

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Listenable Records
by Craig Hartranft,  04.04.2013

It's good to be noticed. Michigan's The Omega Experiment received praise from another prog peer Devin Townsend for their Karma EP. Now they been noticed by France's Listenable Records for international distribution of their 2012 self-titled full length debut.

The Omega Experiment:: got tired of standing.

The Omega Experiment is principally Dan Wieten, who handles guitars, vocals, bass, drum programming, engineering and production, and Ryan Aldridge who brings the keyboards and samples. The conceptual themes center upon Wieten's descent and recovery from drug addiction. It's even more a DIY project as recording was handled in Wieten's home studio.

The result is a rather impressive, even mature, album of dense progressive metal. Dense may be the operative word here; that, or perhaps, layered. Every song is thick with big guitar riffs, synths and samples, elaborate vocals, and even the bass line and drum programming seems doubled up. The music can be lighter or wistful as on Tranquility and then aggressively intense as with Furor and Karma. Then Paramount, the closing song, has more of a rock groove. When Wieten gets around to a solo, he can tear up the fret board as within Karma. But mostly he seems content upon using the guitar as a palette for tone and texture.

Overall, the sound produced reminds of Yes pushed through Dream Theater and a Townsend project. There's as much to take in and decipher from this album as there is to enjoy. One thing I struggle to imagine is playing any of this live: something would be lost in translation. Perhaps this work is too much studio theatrics, more for the digital iPod age, than delivered live. It would be interesting to see and hear The Omega Experiment live as it may suggest a more guarded opinion about their music. Nevertheless, easily recommended.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

The Omega Experiment's debut album is a well-crafted platter of dense progressive metal whose intense layers must be explored for ultimate enjoyment. Recommended.

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The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]