Project 86 has spent most of its career on the heavier end of the music spectrum, but who ever guessed that they’d eventually embrace metalcore for nearly a full album? The final chapter for the band, OMNI, Pt. 1, does just that, with full-on metalcore chugging, double bass, and Andrew Schwab’s powerful screaming that sounds as good now as it did 25 years ago. The album does give the listener plenty of moments to catch a breath, but when it goes, it goes hard, such as in the intense singles and the deep cut highlight “Skin Job” (which features guest vocals from Norma Jean’s Cory Brandan). OMNI is certainly a surprising way for one of Christian rock’s most beloved entities to call it a day, but it’s an enjoyable one, and it makes me wish it wasn’t the end.
– 3/21/23 Scott Fryberger

    For over 20 years, Project 86 has been one of my favorite bands in all of rock music. They’ve often tread the line between hardcore/metal and melodic rock more than most bands in the genre, making fans of heavy music who don’t quite usually like metalcore want to tune in. The first half of their final project, OMNI, Part 1, is the band’s heaviest album to date. While a slight Drawing Black Lines vibe is definitely evident (especially in the opener and the few quiet tracks), there’s far more screaming than ever here. Fans of the catchier heavy anthems like “Spy Hunter,” “Sincerely, Ichabod,” and “Fall, Goliath, Fall” will not find a single song in that vein (The closest thing to it is “Virtual Signal,” but it’s a stretch). I’m actually proud of Schwab and Co. for making the record they want to make and pushing their artistic boundaries past some of the listeners’ comfort points, but for me, this may be my least favorite entry from the band since their debut album.
– 3/22/23 John DiBiase

    If you are here for the heaviness, you won’t be disappointed. As a whole, OMNI Part 1 is more of an experience than any Project 86 that came before it, but the extended sequences of monologuing, as well as a decreased focus on crafting catchy melodies, diminishes its replayability. Nonetheless, in addition to its brutal heaviness, this release is a must-listen for the story aspect, which takes their signature bizarre and extreme metaphors (that often serve as a social commentary) to a much larger scale.
– 3/27/23 Christopher Smith

It’s not very often that a band goes into making an album knowing that it will be their last, or at least advertising it as such. And yet, after being a band for close to thirty years, this is exactly what Project 86 has presented us with OMNI. Throughout the decades, frontman and sole remaining original member, Andrew Schwab has proven himself to be one of the most creative and talented minds in heavy music. I’m convinced it is solely due to Schwab’s drive and passion that has kept Project 86 going in spite of member turnover, style changes, and a global pandemic.

On this, Project 86’s 11th and “final” album, we’re dropped into a futuristic world where the common populace is mostly under the complete control of OMNI, a tyrannical government. Lyrically, the songs seem to alternate from OMNI’s perspective to that of rebels. And while the premise of the story feels familiar with movies like The Matrix or Equilibrium, the story never feels boring or recycled. And the music adds so much to the narrative. Make no mistake, OMNI is Project 86’s darkest and heaviest album to date. To say that this sounds like no other Project 86 album is not hyperbole. While the music is a big part of that, there is also a new element of Schwab’s vocals that I’ve not heard before – lower screaming, almost growls. There’s plenty still familiar, namely, Andrew Schwab’s signature yell/scream.

A few highlights for me are “0 >1,” which features a guitar lead that sounds right out of the Songs to Burn Your Bridges By/And the Rest Will Follow era. “Virtual Signal,” “Metatropolis,” and “When the Belfry Speaks,” lead the pack as the most brutal songs on OMNI, if not the band’s entire discography. “Tartarus Kiss,” the softest song – excluding interlude tracks “User Agreement,” and “Trust the Science” – brings to mind the more experimental side the band explored on Rival Factions. “Skin Job” features a great guest spot from Norma Jean’s Cory Brandon.
This is the best Project 86 album in over a decade, and honestly, what more can you ask for from a band’s last (or second to last) album?
– Review date: 3/22/23, John Mark Amos of Jesusfreakhideout.com