Omen's debut album is one of the quintessential US Metal albums. Maybe even more: some have described "Battle Cry", originally released on Metal Blade Records in 1984, as one of the best heavy metal albums ever written. Omen were originally formed in 1983 in Oklahoma by Kenny Powell (guitars), Jody Henry (bass) and Steve Wittig (drums). Not long after they moved to Los Angeles and found an outstanding vocalist in J.D. Kimball. Their song "Torture Me" appeared on "Metal Massacre V". Soon after Omen inked a deal with Brian Slagel's legendary Metal Blade label an started recording their first album "Battle Cry", which saw the light of day in 1984. Songs like "Death Rider", "Dragon's Breath", "In The Arena" and "The Axeman" were not immediately hailed as classics in the band's native America (and in the UK for that matter). It was Europe and especially Germany that took Omen to its heart. At the time, Omen were quite often (rather inappropriately) described as "Iron Maiden on speed". Boris Kaiser, chief editor of German Rock Hard magazine, found more fitting words in the book "Best Of Rock & Metal": "The world will probably never again see a band that sounded as unique as Omen on their first three albums "Battle Cry","Warning Of Danger" and "The Curse". That was mainly down to J.D. Kimball's deep, majestic and highly melodic vocals. Add some great guitar work by Kenny Powell and a more than solid rhythm section and you will end up with one of the best power metal bands of all time." -- Matthias Mader
