History & Biography Lifting its monicker from the seminal horror film, The Omen, Damien Thorne began delivering heavy metal in Chicago as early as 1983. Justin Fate also handled the bass in the early days. Mandat was sometimes Ken Starr. The band issued a demo in 1984 and signed with Cobra Records for The Sign Of The Jackal. Notice the continuation of The Omen theme. This album was reissued by Iron Glory records in 2003. Shows with Nuclear Assault and others followed. Two years passed before the band had a new release. The EP was called Former Life and issued as an indie release as the act had parted ways with its label. The band relocated to Los Angeles in search of the illusive deal, but eventually made its way back to Chicago.
The band returned in the '90s for more abuse. Wrath Of Darkness was recorded in the 1987, but not issued until 2001 through Criminal Records. It featured Former Life as bonus material. Vocalist Dave Gibson was drafted in 2004. 2005's Haunted Mind was an independent full-length. The line-up here was singer Joe Martin, guitarist Ken Mandat, bassist Rick Browz and drummer Mike Browz. The latter was a new recruit who was joining his brother who had left the band in its infancy. Damien Thorne performed The Sign Of The Jackal in its entirety at the Up The Hammers festival in Athens, Greece in 2015 to commemorate its 30th anniversary. Soul Stealer was a 2015 demo. Bassist Mick Lucid (Vicious Circle and Witchslayer) and drummer Kevin Tarpey (Cicious Circle) joined in 2019. Keyboardist Brian Buxbaum died of a stroke in 2021. The band played at a concert tribute to The Skull's Eric Wagner in 2022. Wagner had died of COVID-19 in 2021 after becoming an anti-vaxxer.
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