Parts Unknown
Through two demos Montreal hardcore outfit Omegas — perhaps one of the genre’s most beloved current acts having recently performed at Chaos in Tejas — has done what stylistically only the greats have: It has created a universe to accompany its music. That’s no small feat either. Mental might have channelled Supertouch with a Jerky Boys esthetic. Modern Life is War brought Tastee Freeze malaise to the beat of a mid-tempo American Nightmare. The only suitable comparison for Omegas though is peanut butter noodles rotting in a Montreal snowbank: This is revolting. Familiar. And above all distinctly urbane though not in a Biohazard fashion.
Instead if there’s a consistent comparable on its debut LP it’s Victim in Pain -era Agnostic Front — screaming treble-heavy guitar solos long missing in hardcore though partially revived by Fucked Up guitarist Jonah Falco swirl over its mid-tempo moments; moping bass lines as on “Disgusting Fun” introduce songs evoking images of chain-swinging truants exploding into dance; breakdowns offer reprieve from the fast-paced furor rather than chug on a down-tuned chord. Vocalist Ryan Hogan for his part is Omegas’ tour-guide — while his vocals remain low in the mix his is a sneer that’s at times pure disgust at others completely absurd. That range of moods incidentally is a rare — if not completely surprising — blend as the genre goes.
Indeed there are few modern hardcore releases that can conjure mental images quite like the Omegas — this might be the only band in the world that makes sense to skinheads and dudes who rock gorilla suits and gardening gloves to shows. It’s the enthusiasm of youth crew minus the corniness the riffs of classic NYHC without the sketchy undertones — and as a result this might be the best straight-ahead Canadian hardcore LP since Career Suicide’s Assisted Suicide.
