Review: The Raven Age – Blood Omen

Music For Nations/Sony Music (July 7th, 2023)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

Modern metal musicians The Raven Age return to the scene with their third album ‘Blood Omen’, hoping to pick up the momentum they somewhat lost when they were hampered by the pandemic. I am not familiar with the band’s previous material, so I decided to walk into this blind. What I ended up finding was a band that has a sound that most modern metal bands should try and emulate.

The Raven Age combines heaviness with tones in a way that brings the best parts of metal past and present together into one effective package. There’s catchy phrasing mixed with down tuned guitars and soaring vocals. All these elements would not work without the talents provided by everyone, especially guitarist George Harris, who seemed to have picked up a thing or two about catchy melodies from his father, Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris.

Opening tracks ‘Parasite’ and ‘Serpents Tongue’ have been out for a few months now and pack a powerful one-two punch. If you listened and enjoyed those, there’s more to be had with the equally impressive ‘Essence of Time’ and epic feel of ‘Tears of Stone’, only slowing down a bit for the metallic ballad ‘The Journey’. That ballad is the weakest part of this album. Without an effective hook, it just meanders about and feels like it’s building to something it never quite reaches.

I found an interesting comparison when it came to tracks ‘Forgive & Forget’ and ‘War In Heaven’. The layered lead vocals reminded me of a Heavy Metal version of the band Hell In The Club. Lead singer Matt James raises his vocal an octave for these tracks and they’re my favorite on the album. The former has a tremendous energy to it and uses screaming vocals sporadically as a backing vocal enhancement. It accentuates Matt’s vocals, delivering a powerful kick to spice up the verses.

Something that did not grab me was how the album was fashioned as a concept piece.  Something about the overthrowing of old masters, with the band’s Raven King character coming to prominence and taking his rightful place on the throne. A narrative like this is usually reserved for medieval fashioned metal bands like Manowar or Hammer King. I never once picked up on any type of storyline after several listens and only came to know about the “tale” from reading the press release. Truth be told, I could not tell you what most of the songs’ narratives focused on. It’s vague hints about visions, dreams, rising up, and power. They work individually but I fail to see it working as a collective.

While there are truly only eight songs, the album does clock in at 39 minutes, which is a decent length of time for an album. Most modern metal bands rely too much on growling, screeching vocals that seems to be a staple of the genre. Fortunately, The Raven Age utilizes clean vocals for the most part, only using screaming as an additive to enhance the music. More modern metal would do well to follow their lead. This is a band that deserves more airplay, and hopefully their new deal with Music For Nations will give them the exposure they deserve.

Tracklist:

1. Changing of the Guard (Intro)
2. Parasite
3. Serpents Tongue
4. Essence of Time
5. Nostradamus
6. Forgive & Forget
7. The Journey
8. War In Heaven
9. Tears of Stone