Review: Omega Era put belief back into rock music

Review by Graham Chalmers

On this enjoyably punchy four-track EP The Omega Era sound just like the sort of band Home Fire studios love to record.

A blaze of energy welded to big hooks and stinging lead guitar lines, there’s nothing revolutionary but nothing false about this bunch of Harrogate-based blue-eyed believers in the enduring power of rock music.

Led by long-time popular local singer Johnny Skinner and featuring mssrs Gav Ramsay, Ryan Jones and James Dye, what you see is what you get on all four tracks, from wham-bam opener Turn Us Away to pulsating closer Motions.

Sounding like a pop metal band seduced by Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the Sex Pistols simultaneously , track two, Revelations, a big, fat heartfelt ballad, does reveal a minor reservation – The Omega Era are, perhaps, a little too direct for their own good sometimes.

The occasional harmony or unexpected little detour might just work a treat.