OMEN lose their singer

Heavy · Post by **Heavy** » Sun Dec 05, 2010 10:51 pm

Some statements from George and Kenny Powell:

I appreciate all of your comments guys. I'm pasting below two statements that were released by Kenny Powell on his facebook wall. My own thoughts will follow, certainly, in interviews and on here - but I want you guys to know that before I was a member of the band I was a huge fan of JD Kimball era-OMEN and I would have stayed with the group to the end had I been given that option.

I also want to give hearty "HAIL!"s to all of the guys that were in and subsequently out of OMEN during my brief but impacting tenure; Steve Wittig, Scott Clute, Wampa Zayas, Andy Haas and last but certainly not least, my lionhearted ASKA brother, Danny White. (The five of you and I could start our very own METAL ARMY!) I love you guys and its been an honor playing with each and every one of you. The friendships we formed as members of OMEN are forged in STEEL & IRON and will remain unbreakable for me in my life. My consolation is that I get to continue sharing stages with Danny around the world. He too was dismissed from OMEN at this time or recently - hard to tell exactly when, but I'm sure it happened.

Again, thanks so much for your support. It means the world. And please know that I too wait with anticipation for the new OMEN record. It features Danny White's stellar drumming of course and many of you have already heard new OMEN singer, Matt Story, on the song "Voices" that was posted on myspace a few years ago. I also, much to my surprise, got to hear some of Matt's recorded vocals on one of the new songs I was tracking called "Chaco Canyon", at Kenny's studio when they popped up in the mix unexpectedly late one night. He's a good singer, he's been a great friend to Kenny for years and years, he's very familiar with the OMEN songs and I'm certain he won't let Kenny, or us OMEN fans down. I, like everyone else, hope for a new OMEN record worthy of JD Kimball's legacy.

-George Call

Hey, I loved George singing for Omen, I have great respect for him. However, I made a commitment to Omen and myself, 3 years ago to try and do the final 3 Omen records equal to the first 3. I was 53 at the time, I am now 56 and want to accomplish every thing possible before my skills start to diminish. At this rate I will get my first social security check before I finish a new Omen record. It is simply not acceptable for me to wait any longer, I wish George and Danny the very best of luck. At this point in time I must put Omen above anything else.The new record is finally moving forward, and the great thing for me is that it is going to be even better than I thought possible. Matt Story is doing the vocals, he was the person that I wanted all along, it was not possible because of other commitments. I honestly feel that "Hammer Damage" will shock the Metal world. Look for some demos of the new songs in the next couple of weeks.

Yes , it is unfortunate, and not a decision I wanted to make. I am not getting any younger and George has a very full schedule. I felt I could not wait any longer to finish the new CD. It will be finished in a couple of months, not... a couple of years. I wish George and ASKA the best of luck. He is a great singer, but time marches on. The new singer Matt Story has a great voice, and has time to do the Omen Cd now. He has been here every time I have asked and busted his ass to 3 and 4 in the morning without a single complaint. Keep your eyes and ears open, I will post some demos of the new songs soon.Look for the new CD by early spring, and then we can start touring again, I think Greece should be the first stop!

-Kenny

convent guilt · Post by **convent guilt** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 4:13 am

Sorry to hear George is out of the band. Saw Omen twice this year and he filled the role perfectly, much better than I would ever have expected.

Good luck to Kenny though, as he obviously has things he wants to do that the recent line-up couldn't assist him with.

Sharing a stage with Omen in Germany was one of my musical highlights, so cheers to George for that and good luck with his future efforts.

anthares · Post by **anthares** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:20 am

Couldnt check George and Omen together but ASKA was pure metal to the bone in Frankfurt KIT afterparty. That night with Militia will be always ranked high in my top 5 metal shows! He has a perfect metal voice!

JB · Post by JB » Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:08 pm

Shame to learn that George is gone. Glad to have caught them live a few times. As previously stated by a few people here. He did the old tunes justice and almost made me forget the dispicabley bad Reopening the Gates album. Did an admirable job of filling JD Kimball's shoes.
Hopfully Kenny can get things together and pull something decent out of the bag. Eternal Black dawn wasn't terrible, but its an album I would not feel compelled to re-visit very often.

Heavy · Post by **Heavy** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:01 am

New song's up on myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/omenofficial

mordred · Post by **mordred** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:14 pm

I kind of like the new song but it does feel like an album track that should not be heard out of context.

I think I would have enjoyed the track more if George Call had sung it, he was perfect for Omen in my opinion. Well, at least this guy is much better than the dude who sang on Eternal Black Dawn, damn his vocals were boring.

Still mildly curious about this new Omen effort. Hopefully it will be better than Eternal Black Dawn on the whole, that album started with two great tracks, one OK and then fell flat on its chest.

Xstroyer · Post by **Xstroyer** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 9:11 am

I talk to the band sometimes and the reply of Kenny Powell was on my comment on FB. I though George was the best singer for Omen at the time. I saw them live many times and he fits like hell with them, but he also has Aska and they couldn't work together anymore. Too bad.

The new Omen song with Matt Story isn't bad anyway and I hope we'll get a new record soon.

Omen - Epitaph:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA6Knk3JeFw

Ra Pariah · Post by **Ra Pariah** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:28 pm

mordred wrote:I kind of like the new song but it does feel like an album track that should not be heard out of context.

I couldn't find better words to describe my thoughts about the new song... It's a nice epic song, but it's not a typical Omen song, so I would like to listen to the whole album first and then end up with my final decision.