Bands-OMEN-

Guitarist Kenny Powell formed Omen in Los Angeles,California in the spring of 1983 after a short stint and one record with the L.A. metal band Savage Grace.

Most of the original line-up consisting of Powell on lead guitar, Jody Henry on rhythm guitar and Steve Wittig on drums had moved out to the West Coast from Oklahoma a year earlier with the plan of finding a bass player and a bad-ass singer and taking over the universe!Unfortunately, finding the right Metal players in a very Glam scene proved to be a little more difficult than anticipated. In the interim, Kenny was asked to join Savage Grace as co-lead guitarist and additional songwriter. The guitar part was working out fine, but the song writing process proved to be frustrating to Powell who had been the main song writer in his previous bands. After being asked to drop the songs Battle Cry and Die by the Blade that he had written for the next S.G. record, Kenny decided it was time to go back to plan A. A conversation with Metal Blade ecords founder Brian Slagel netted Kenny a record deal on the strength of the two songs originally written for the S.G. record!After a quick call to Steve, Kenny and Jody went to see a band that he was rehearsing with that featured none other than J.D. Kimball on vocals. After some serious persuasion from Kenny, Jody switched to bass and Omen was born. This line up produced the classic 80's Metal albums Battle Cry - Warning of Danger and The Curse.

In 1987, J.D. Kimball left the band for personal reasons and Coburn Pharr stepped in to fill the lead vocal duties. A little known fact is that Omen wrote a complete albums worth of new material with Coburn in L.A. that sounded very much like a follow up to "The Curse" that was to be entitled "Era of Crisis". The band then went to New York to record with veteran producer Paul O'Neil and only one of the original songs ended up on the record. While the band enjoyed working with and still have a great deal of respect for Paul O'Neil, somehow the band drifted away from the classic Omen sound. This resulted in the 1988 release "Escape to Nowhere" and while it spawned Omen's only radio hit "Thorn in your Flesh" and a very successful 10 week U.S. tour, a disillusioned Kenny Powell put the band to rest for nearly
10 years.

In 1996, Powell decided to put the band back together with bass player Andy Haas whom he had been working with for several years. After no luck tracking down original singer J.D. Kimball, Kenny recruited his own son for vocals and 2nd guitar, along with veteran Dallas metal Drummer, Rick Murray.This line-up produced the 1997 release "Reopening the Gates" along with a very successful European tour with Fates Warning. This line-up proved to be short lived. After touring, the band realized how many old fans were left high & dry and wanted to get back to the classic Omen sound!! Greg (Kenny's son) decided to stick with something a little closer to his generation and left with his father's blessing to pursue his own project "Stomping Ground". After taking some time off, Powell, Haas and Murray began working on new material with one goal in mind; get back to the classic Omen sound!! While writing, the search began for a new singer. The band wanted someone that could handle the older material with the respect it deserved, write their own lyrics and melodies, and possessed a passion for classic Power Metal.

Enter Kevin Goocher! A veteran of the Dallas Metal scene, Kevin can best be described as a cross between J.D. Kimball and Ronnie James Dio. After only a few rehearsals Kevin had mastered a full set of early Omen songs and finished lyrics to all of the new material the band had been working on!After playing a quick show to make sure everyone was compatible on stage, the band started working on a new release entitled "Eternal Black Dawn". It will definitely be a return to the style of the early 80's Omen records and should not disappoint all those, including Kenny, who have been waiting 15 years for a follow up to "The Curse".


Line-up

Kenny Powell- guitars
Kevin Goocher- vocals
Andy Haas- bass
Rick Murray- drums


Discography

Eternal Black Dawn CD 2003


http://www.omenlegion.com/