Band:	A Hill To Die Upon
Album:	Omens
Style:	Melodic black metal, Melodic death metal
Release date:	2011
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Darkness That Can Be Felt
02. The Perfection Of Evil
03. Adept In Divinity
04. The Chant Of Mighty Offspring
05. Heka Primus (Ordo Norma Mysterium)
06. I Come As Black Fire
07. Nehushtan
08. May The Thing Be Destroyed
09. Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down
10. Ancient Enemy Of Death

There are various categories of bands that strive to spread their work and the ways to do so are quite enough as well. Either they choose the tough path of experimentation or tend to follow soundscapes some others paved successfully in the past and rely upon those footsteps. It's more or less a sound equivalent of "my way or the highway". Well, A Hill To Die Upon have to be one of those cases that fit most in the second category, the highway. But at the same time, it's one of those few cases that despite the fact you're not listening to something so original, it takes you by force during the first spin.

Also, there are bands that release flares in the dark, something like an awesome debut and then they go downwards, being unable to continue the quality and the high standards they set at the dawn of their discography. But there are bands like A Hill To Die Upon that have in their roster a wonderful debut, Infinite Titanic Immortal, and work hard to prove that their first attempt was not a flare on the horizon, but a star in the night sky. Hence they start carving upon the canvas of the universe a second one so as to compose their very own small asterism. And Omens, their second full-length, is here to stay.

A Hill To Die Upon hail from the United States and the fact that everything's flowing as expected must be that it's family "business", the Cook brothers know what they're doing; and they're doing it well. Expect some brilliant death metal a la Behemoth with black metal injections the Scandinavian way. One great riff comes right after the other concurring a massive assault of grandeur and fierceness and whether they possess a groovier or sharper edge they never fail to serve their purpose well. A welcome amount of solos enrich the overall dismal environment and acoustic passages like the Anatolian beauty of "Nehushtan" strengthen the mystical ambiance that overruns the compositions at times. Adam Cook and Elisha Mullins perform a wonderful guitar work and Michael Cook proves that he's a talented drummer, alongside the bass lines, lending groove and setting tight foundations upon which the aforementioned musicians step with passion. As for the vocal part, expect an ecstatic grunting performance that entrances the compositions and completes the puzzle in the most appropriate way.

A big plus is that the album, consisting of 10 compositions, doesn't surpass the 37 minutes and even if you want to, it won't make you purchase a boredom ticket. On the contrary, it will be part of your every day ear orgasm for more than two times in a row; I experience it every day for some time now and I can't complain. The production is also very good, complimenting the compositions and the overall ambiance, neither over-polished nor too underground so as to dig deeper to find what the band has to say. And let's not forget the tempting cover!

With this album, to change a song title a bit, alas, "Satan, Your Kingdom Has Come Down", proceed with no fear.

PS1.
The 1:40-2:10 ultra horny, hyper groovy passage from "The Chant Of Mighty Offspring" is an apocalyptic big bang of foul semen.

PS2.
The a capella female vocals at the end of "Ancient Enemy Of Death" and the album as well is the calm after the storm, a hallucinating moment and some kind of unexpected internal redemption for the listener.

PS3.
PS3 is too expensive, get Omens!