Omnigone: "Against The Rest" Review
Review by: Gimpleg
If music is the voice of revolution, Omnigone has picked up more than a microphone, they have picked up a megaphone. While other bands remind us why we need to be mad, Omnigone reminds us to stand and fight together.
Strength through community- the key message in Omnigone's first album since 2019- is laid out masterfully in this early frontrunner for album of the year. I've listened to this album on repeat since first receiving it, and I'm overwhelmed with how good it is. The three singles that were released prior to the album are the first three tracks on the album, and I love them all, but somehow I think the second half of the album is even better than the front half.
Right out of the gate we get the album's title track and the first single from the album. A callback to lead singer Adam Davis' previous band, Link 80, this track and album is named after the Against The Rest Crew, a community of fans for the aforementioned band- and serves as a rallying cry to stand united. While the first track is more hard-core and punk than most of the album, it immediately breaks into the next single, which brings in the real ska-core elements. We kick off the ska rhythm on the guitar as J. Navarro from Suicide Machines and J Navarro and the Traitors joins in to sing "Communities in Collaboration"- not just a song about community building, but also demonstrating it through collaborating with another artist. This song demands social change, but working together to achieve a better society- and not letting the powerful elite pit us against one another- as Adam sings "your neighbor is not your foe".
Arguably my favorite song on the album (it's really hard to decide) is "Are We OK?", a catchy ska-core track featuring Tara Hahn from Half Past Two. Tara's supporting vocals really make the track stand out in the album, but it's also just a great ska song that makes you want to sing along just as much as it makes you want to dance aggressively in a pit.
The second half of the album made me feel like this was a post pandemic version of Suicide Machines classic "Destruction by Definition". I don't mean to say that it sounds like that album, but rather, it is full of great songs that are often aggressive, and stir you to action while making you want to shout along with the chorus. Songs like "Tonight", "Flip the Magnet" "Control" and "Kill Your Ego" are impossible to ignore. I was certain at least one or two of the singles for this album would be pulled from this list. These songs aren't just great musically either, "Tonight" is about the need for action now in order to address systemic issues- that we can't prepare for a better future if we don't start immediately. "Flip the Magnet" is about trying to stay positive and uplifting, and focusing on your mental well-being.
My favorite track from the back half of the album is definitely "Web We Weave", once again driving home the common theme that we are all interconnected, but also has great keys mixed in, angry verses, more catchy choruses that feel like they could be done with gang vocals at a live show, and just make me want to sing along. The messages just sink in better when the vocals make me want to sing along.
This is honestly a 15 track album that doesn't feel like it has filler, and has 8-10 tracks that could legitimately be singles and the rest of the tracks are still excellent. I've strapped on my brace, laced up my boots, and I'm ready to join the chorus with Omnigone.