There may be plenty of Bad Omens if you believe the online Metal Encyclopedia, but for me, there’s only one that matters: the Dutch Bad Omen. The trio that’s been wreaking havoc on stages across our small country since 2021 with their raw Ancient Evil Rock—dragging your miserable carcass straight back to the eighties.
Those are the years where Bad Omen draws their influences from. You hear it, you feel it: Venom, Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, Bulldozer. Clattering like a heavy excavator on an abandoned graveyard, they thunder right over you.
After the demos “Returns…” and “Hell”, and their killer debut album “Hell Returns”, they now return with the live tape “Returns to Hell”. Because let’s be honest—what other title would have been fitting?
Recorded at the legendary Willemeen in Arnhem in June 2025 straight from the soundboard—no fuss, no bullshit, just hit record. Raw, loud, filthy, exactly as it should be. The smell of sweat and beer? You’ll just have to imagine that yourself.
A total of nine tracks are smashed into your face, including “Get Fucked”, “Back Alley Ritual”, and the outstanding “Final Bombing”. Each one harder, faster, and more brutal than their studio versions. You feel it, you get it—and with a bit of imagination, you can smell it too.
Available through, among others, Bandcamp—no fancy download link, no streaming option. This is Old School. This is back to basics. If you don’t own a cassette deck, you’re a poser and not worthy of the tape.
Here’s to the next chapter for these guys—making you feel young again, taking you back to that time when the internet was still a sci-fi dream, and mobile phones were for businessmen and weighed 20 kilos.
85/100