A good music webstore, but be sure to get postal insurance! (theomegaorder.com)

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	theomegaorder.com
Date:	15/07/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Massive catalogue, professional website, efficient friendly service

Disadvantages: They will not replace any items lost in overseas shipping unless you take out postal insurance

The Omega Order is a large American music distributor that specialises in dark and heavy music in all its forms, with a wide range of Heavy, Gothic, Progressive, Death, Black, Thrash, Sludge and Doom metal titles on offer. Their associated record label, The End Records, have in their roster an eclectic if small range of artists including heavy metal band Lordi, gothic metal group The Gathering as well as experimentalist artists such as Jarboe and Ulver. The label also reissues releases by of a number of high-profile European artists including Darkthrone, and these can be cheaper and easier to find than the originals. They also offer a bulk tshirt printing service, should you be looking to produce merchandise for your own band.

The website is extensive and professionally constructed and maintained, with tens of thousands of releases on offer across multiple formats. The website also includes a forum, and they send out regular newsletters by email informing of new releases and special offers. The search engine is staightforward to use and its possible to browse releases by artists listed alphabetically. There are also seperate sections for vinyls, music-related books, music dvds (of which theys stock hundreds) and also band merchandise. This section is extensive, with tshirts, hoodies and longsleeves for a wide range of bands available.

The site's prices are pretty reasonable: not counting the couple of quid in postage costs, tshirts cost between $17 and $20 (£10.50-£12 at time of writing) longsleeves are around $20-$25 (£12-£15) and hoodies are arounnd $30 (£18), whereas cds generally cost around $13-$16, (£8-£10). Vinyls are also competitively priced, generally costing between $15 and $25, (£9-£15)although postage is unsuprisingly more expensive for these. They also have regular sales with 10% off much of their stock, whilst their purchasing system involves a simple cart system pretty much identical to that used by Amazon, with numerous different shipping options available.

Its all pretty reasonably priced, but one thing worth noting is that Omega Order take no responsibility for international orders lost in transit unless you take out postal insurance, so its well worth considering this especially on larger and more expensive orders. I once ordered a limited Opeth vinyl and special edition cd but it never arrived, and when I contaced Omega Order they said that it had been sent but that there was no way to track it, leaving me £25 out of pocket. Aside from this however, I have had no problems with them, finding them to be friendly and efficient. A good site with a wealth of choice available, just dont forget the postal insurance.

Summary: A professional, reliable site with a huge catalogue, but postal insurance is recommended.