Dark omen

DARK OMEN interview

Dark Omen are a new classic Dutch Heavy-/Thrash band on the horizon, but actually they´re no newcomers at all because two of the guys were in Powervice before. There´s only one 4-track-CD out or now, but for me it´s really promising. I talked to Vincent Koreman who did a short, but fine interview with me.

-Hi Vincent! Please tell us about the beginnings of Dark Omen first!

Hi Daniel! It’s a bit of a long story, so I’ll just give you the main points, haha. It started when me and Perry (of Point Break Sound studio, Stockholm) were producing a record for friends of ours, a punk/rock ‘roll band named The Spades. In the evening, we were just listening to our fav metal records over and over with their bass player Richard and we really hit it off. We became close friends over our similar taste in metal, the late ‘70s, early 80’s type stuff when no silly genre names were there yet and everything was just ‘Metal’! We stayed in touch after that and when The Spades broke up, me and Richard started another band called Powervice, which I’m sure some of your readers will know.  I quit that band and Richard continued, bringing them to an almost big break, record deal in place and everything!

I continued with the black metal band Nihill. We made 5 records and then in 2019 our singer died, so there was no reason to continue. After that I started working on some songs I had always wanted to write: A flashback to early 80’s metal just before Speed Metal and Thrash Metal were born. I called on some old friends, and here we are!

-Have you played in other bands before?

Yeah, I have played in bands since I was 15. I played in Dutch punk pop band Travoltas for a long time (13 years), toured the world with them and we did some really cool stuff. Besides that I’ve played in The House Of Destructo, The Spades, Powervice, Stillborn, By The Hand Of Thy Master, Nihill (also for 13 years) and am currently playing in Dark Omen, Ulveblod (black) and Golem Zhev (black/doom)

-There are five bands listed on Metal Archives called Dark Omen. Was there ever any confusion about that?

Hahaha, not really, it was the name that fits our music the best and we realize there are more bands with the same name, but as they say… There can be only one! (and that’s us)

-The style on your new CD “The End Of Rage” is very varied. While the opener “Frozen Star” reminds me on Judas Priest, the title track has a cool Celtic Frost-/Hellhammer vibe. So which bands are your main influences for Dark Omen?

Thanks! Main influences are Abbatoir, Griffin (I listened to their ‘Heavy Metal Attack’ so much in the 80’s – and still!), Riot (“Fire Down Under” is one of the best albums ever!) and early Anthrax (with their first singer Neil Turbin and Dan Lilker) and some of the stuff that came slightly later like Agent Steel, Dark Angel and Destruction.

-How much time did it take to wrote and record the songs?

It took some time to get these song how I wanted them, but also because we had a kid right around when I started writing, so it was done in between working and taking care of my daughter and wife. But normally I’m a pretty fast writer.

-Where did you record? And who was the producer?

Most of it was recorded in my own studio, right here at home. Some of the drums were recorded at Perry’s studio in Stockholm, Point Break Sound, but everything else was done here. I mixed it here as well and then Perry mastered it again in Stockholm. So back and forth a lot, hahaha.

-I like the artwork very much. It looks like Ed Repka style! Who did it? And how did you get in contact with the artist?

Thanks a lot! Yeah, I like his art as well. It was drawn by Hamdan (@hand.damn is the handle he uses) and we hit it off after I told him what it was for and he showed me the drawings he was making. Great guy! I found him online (of course!) right here:

https://www.instagram.com/hand.damn/

-How did you get in contact with Headbangers Records and Big Bad Wolf Records who released the CD?

Marco got in touch initially because he wanted to re-issue the first demo by our death metal band Stillborn (recorded in 1990) and after I while talking to him, I said, here check this out, I think you’ll like this! Hahahaha, and he did. Marco is such a great guy and he is 666% true Metal! You can feel it is his life when you talk to him. And that’s the type of people I like to work with. We’ve had big record deals in the past with big labels, but don’t be fooled by an image people want to project. They don’t give a fuck about our music and our lives… With Marco you always know he is on the level, all the time!

-Are there also plans for a vinyl version of “The End Of Rage”? Or will you concentrate on a full album now? And will you also include the EP tracks for the album, or will it include completely new songs?

I’m not sure if Marco wants to put it on vinyl to be honest, for now: I am focusing on a full length album! It will have 9 new songs and one tiny ‘flashback’ to the EP. I’m halfway done with writing and am working towards a release early 2022. It will be more of the same hahahaha, heavy metal with an early trash touch, somewhere between the genres, but maybe… just maybe… a little more up-tempo stuff.

-Do you also play live? Or are Dark Omen just a studio project?

Yeah, we are ready to play live, we have a full band with all great guys that are excellent musicians. It’s a blessing when you’ve been playing music for so long that you meet so many people that can really play their instrument very well. So it’s easy to form a band with people you like that you know can bring some extra kick to your music. We are looking to do a bigger tour in ’22, to promote the album and are preparing for that as well. So promoters can always get in touch!

-What are the future plans with Dark Omen?

For now we focus on the album and a tour to coincide with that. I am also finishing up a video for the EP, but it’s made from still images so a lot of work to create an entire video with it. After that: we are ready for anything!

-Okay, Vincent! The last words are yours!

Thanks Daniel, I just want to thank all the trve people with Metal in their hearts. Music is not just a business, its from the soul and can communicate across all countries and backgrounds. We see you and thank you trve Metal heads!

-Daniel Müller-