Review: Broken Hope – Omen Of Disease

There’s been a lot of waiting and anticipation for this record—though maybe misplaced anticipation, because there are quite a few death metal bands from the 90s that I feel did a lot better than what Broken Hope ever did, but that’s just my taste. Judgments aside, Omen of Disease is easily the most polished Broken Hope have sounded. The two “original members,” Shaun Glass and Jeremy Wagner, are on top of their games. Wagner takes on what feels like the bulk of the record with his guitar work. Just as something feels a bit redundant, the riffs change, and so does the momentum of a fast-paced death metal stomp to a mid-tempo head swirl-er. The two members did their best to retain the core of Broken Hope, which is a technical-minded death metal band, but two flaws present themselves: The vocals don’t fit the tone of the record, taking the form of a low-end, faster guttural, when a more enunciated powerful growl would’ve worked. Then there’s the average drums (well, average for death metal). It really feels that if there were a bit more dynamics in the drums, the record would excel into death metal glory. –Bryer Wharton