If you’ve ever ventured into the lower realms of the Inferno with Dante and Virgil, you’ll find Lucifer held fast in an icy cavern frozen to his waist – isolated from humanity. Maybe there’s something about cold temperatures that keeps even the most powerful forces tame and perhaps that’s why Omega Tribe played outside on the patio at O’Mainians in downtown Bristol a couple of weeks ago. Had it been warmer, there’s no telling what might have happened as their scorching blend of original hard-core metal could have been stirred some real trouble among the fans on the patio that night.
For more than a decade, Omega Tribe have been performing around the Tri-Cities region in small clubs that support metal. They have recorded several combustible songs and the chemistry of the guys keep them moving forward. A tenured group of musicians, they create a powerful brand of hard-core heavy metal music that is precise as high-tech military equipment and punctuated by metal marksmen who know their instruments and play together as a…tribe.
I first met Pat Carter this past summer during the Fun Fest Homegrown Showcase. I hired him and his band Ablazing Grace because their new music was one of the brightest projects on the local scene along with The Only, Gretchen and Pilot. Pat and Tribe drummer Scott Thomas are working with this side project along with Tom Bettini and Steve Gilbert and I was immediately impressed with his vocal talent. In person, he’s an intimidating man. Goatee…arms riffled with tattoos, he stands 6 foot 7 plus and I later learned he was once a bouncer at The Nashville Sound and worked with Gene Hughes (Tribe guitarist) on the pro-wrestling circuit. It wasn’t till I got to know him at the hospitality digs and a party later that Pat has extraordinary character.
Lots of players elevate themselves to delusional standards, especially among rock artists and when we walked out back at O’Mainians, Pat was easy to spot, but instead of hyping up the show, the gig or any other casual comment, he immediately asked, ‘How’s Danny?!?” At first I wasn’t sure what he was talking about and responded with a huh? He explained that after the Fun Fest Showcase he exchanged Myspace links with my good friend Danny Strickler. He knew all about Danny’s recent bout with bladder cancer. His top of mind concern impressed me before Pat even took the stage and I was more than happy to share a spot of Jagermeister he had tucked away under his jacket.
We all kept talking about who’s idea it was to play outside in the cold. At Rhythm and Roots, our band Clear played in the scorching heat on a September Saturday, but tonight the patio heaters were burning blue flames and the crowd was getting close as the band moved toward the stage to begin their set. Adam Poff, former Witherspoon guitarist was in the crowd tonight along with me, Tom Bettini and Jared Bentley. Project Downfall’s Aaron Bushong was up front too in the night as we prepared for Omega Tribe. Pat grabbed the mike and yelled into the night that it was good to be outside of Ireson’s and playing this new venue and the power of Omega Tribe was released into the cold crisp night.
The first thing you notice about Omega Tribe is the complete and succinct way in which their music comes across. Turning up the heat, the band released ‘Godless’ into the night as their first song, Johnny Blackburn (bass), Gene Hughes (guitar), Jason Walsh (guitar) and Scott Thomas work with Pat to create a sadistic unity that forges heavy metal’s best attributes – power, energy and rage. Working from a crunching rhythm section, the two guitarists perform like twins with steely harmonic melodies and aggression that will either make you run and hide or tempt fate and shuffle forward to the stage as these musicians move close to the edge.
Pat’s vocals are omnipotent. There is no other voice in the Tri-Cities that bridges powerful melodies and gargoyle type hardcore. One moment, he’s diving deep down into his lungs and roaring out angst comparable to any hardcore superstar, but what makes him unique is his ability to come above the surface and craft a melody that is articulate and distinctive. Most metal singers I’ve heard are hardly legible, but Pat has a signature sound that is immediately unique in any setting.
Johnny Blackburn – reclusive in his stage presence as he stands in the shadows with bass hung low, but his attention to the pulse and Scott Thomas on drums welds a backbone to Omega Tribe that supports all of the other musicians in the band. Tom Bettini told me later that Blackwell is an unsung hero of talent and style. Like Pat Carter, Scott Thomas is no show-off, but he makes up for that with a complete confidence and ability to pound out a raucous pace of hard core rhythms on a small kit. There’s not a lot of flash here, but there’s never a mistake and you can tell these guys are locked side-by-side from song to song.
It’s rare that you hear two guitarists work so well together either. From Judas Priest to The Allman Brothers, two guitars can make a difference, but sometimes egos get in the way, but I didn’t see this tonight. Gene and Jason were brothers in arms during songs like ‘The Cycle’ and my favorite ‘Revolution.’ At one point Gene’s guitar strings busted and he had to switch to a Stratocaster, but he did so without a glitch and the solos and rhythms were exchanged equally on both sides of the stage.
Throughout their set, I heard several new songs that Pat announced. One called ‘Lights’ (I believe) was spellbinding. The song featured Pat’s vocals in an anthem like work with guitar riffs that reeled from the neck to the bridge with speed and aggression like no other music coming from East Tennessee. As Pat raised his hands and fists into the air it was certain to me that the rage in this band is targeted toward injustice and there’s something heroic about their show.
Although this was my first Omega Tribe performance, I’ve been listening to their music for some time now as they have been regulars on The Buzz at GoTriCities and have submitted several songs, but what you hear on the recordings are exactly what you hear live. It’s refreshing to hear a tight band with great chemistry and Omega Tribe is a union forged in a deep-dark genre of music that continues to impress fans including myself.
I’m not normally a heavy metal/thrash/hard core fan. It’s often hard to hear any singer and the music is a wall of sound without distinction, but that’s not the case with Omega Tribe. This is an alchemy of regional musicians that love what they do and their obsession has turned into a long-standing legacy in Bristol that deserves more exposure. Lots of times, violence permeates a hard-core show and there’s no doubt this band has the ability to ignite the passions and testosterone of many, but there’s a character in Omega Tribe that is completely respectable. I told Jared and Tom on the way home that if Pat Carter and Omega Tribe were standing at the gates of hell with Cerberus on all fours snarling at the door…I’d follow because these guys would be formidable champions to make it through to the other side.
Bristol’s Punchin Judy performed a set after Omega Tribe and their fans seemed to enjoy their Rob Zombie-like set, but it was late and we made our way home a little early. Looking back though the Omega Tribe set was incredible! I’ve not experienced a tighter band with intriguing original songs and have even greater respect for these musicians who continue to build new ladders for fans – both old and new. All hail Omega Tribe and if you like your music on the edge, follow this act wherever they perform.