The Band
Bad Omens is an American metalcore band formed in 2015. They have released three studio albums, the last one, The Death of Peace of Mind (TDOPOM), was released in 2022 (you can read my review here).
Band Members
- Noah Sebastian – lead vocals, programming
- Nicholas Ruffilo – bass
- Joakim Karlsson – lead guitar
- Nick Folio – drums, percussion
The Album
This isn’t technically an album, but an official soundtrack to Bad Omens’s Concrete Jungle comic book. It was released on May 31, 2024, and, musically, expands on their previous album TDOPOM.
The Songs
This new project is separated, by instrumental tracks, into three parts.
Part I: This is the collaboration segment:
1. C:\Projects\CJOST\BEATDEATH. The intro, electronic dissonant sounds.
2. V.A.N (feat. Poppy). The first song, and the first single, features Poppy, an American singer.
The name of the song stands for Violence Against Nature.
Poppy sings as the band plays the instruments.
Synths, beats, distorted instruments, and a heavy breakdown musicalize a story about artificial intelligence outgrowing humanity.
Super catchy. I love the song.
3. The Drain (feat. HEALTH & SWARM). My favorite track on this album. Another single.
It features two American industrial bands, HEALTH and SWARM, that provide the song with electronic darkness. Bad Omens adds heavy elements, and all of these result in this synthwave metal track, with sick bass lines during the whole song.
It also has an 80s vibe. In the background, you can hear lightly some parts of The Death of Peace of Mind.
The lyrics are about bad friendships, and the video follows this video game/ comic style.
4. Terms & Conditions (feat. Bob Vylan). The English rap duo Bob Vylan starts the song, and then Noah adds some parts of the song Artificial Suicide.
5. Hedonist (Recharged) (feat. Wargasm). It features the British electronic rock duo Wargasm. Heavier but with some electronic beats.
6. Even. Very light, calm. Soft voice and the music low in the back.
7. Loading Screen. Instrumental track, with synth and electronic sounds.
8. Anything > Human (feat. Erra). It features the American metalcore progressive band Erra.
I love Erra, so it was not a surprise that I loved this song too.
Jesse Cash from Erra, singing along with Noah, two beautiful voices combined, nothing better than that.
You can also hear JT Cavey, Erra’s singer, growling in the back. He also sings the bridge that precedes the breakdown.
The song is on the soft side, but good. A good amount of synths.
Breakup theme.
JT does some growls at the end, as well.
9. Digital Footprint. Instrumental. Too lengthy, almost 5 minutes of a dance electronic track.
10. Nervous System (feat. iRis.EXE). It features the American electronic/pop band, iRis.EXE.
Here sings, Madelyn, the singer of iRis.EXE. Electronic. Then a heavy drop. It changes to a heavier tune, but always with the electronic sounds in the background. Noah only does some vocals in the back.
Toxic love.
Part II – Remixes. New Versions:
11. C:\Projects\CJOST\FINDPEACE. Instrumental. Similar to the first one, but with sounds of missed electronic connections, and dissonant elements.
12. Artificial Suicide (Unzipped) (feat. Thousand Below). It features the American post-hardcore band, Thousand Below.
It’s the original song but in an ultra-fast version, that lasts less than 2 minutes. Not for me.
13. The Grey [Unzipped] (feat. Thousand Below). It also counts with Thousand Below.
This is fast-paced too, but better than Artificial Suicide’s version.
I prefer the original, which is a ballad. This remix, for me, loses the song’s emotional tone.
14. The Death Of Peace Of Mind (We Are Fury Patch). Features We Are Fury, a Canadian electronic duo.
This version is more similar to the original, which is my favorite Bad Omens song.
It misses the heavy parts and the breakdown and has some additional sounds, but it’s ok.
15. The Death Of Peace Of Mind [So Wylie Patch]. So Wylie is a music producer and she sings here. I didn’t like this version, too fast (not as much as Artificial Suicide tho). Kind of hip-hop vibe.
16. Bad Decisions [Lofi] (feat. Dahlia). Sings Dahlia’s singer. It’s ok. A calm, soft version, very atmospheric. I could listen to this, again.
17. Just Pretend [Credits] (ft. Let’s Eat Grandma, Chief). It features Let’s Eat Grandma, a British experimental pop duo, and the American band Chief.
80s pop vibe. It lacks the emotional tone that Noah provides in the original, but it’s ok. It wouldn’t catch my attention if it wasn’t because I know and love the original.
Part III – Live Tracks of CONCRETE FOREVER EUROPE TOUR (January and February 2024):
18. C:\Projects\Cjost\Clearmind. Another dissonant instrumental, to finish the remix part and enter the live songs.
19. Artificial Suicide (live 2024).
20. Like A Villain (live 2024).
21. The Grey (live 2024).
22. What Do You Want From Me? (live 2024).
23. Nowhere To Go (live 2024).
24. V.A.N (live 2024) (feat. Poppy).
25. The Death of Peace of Mind (live 2024).
26. Just Pretend (live 2024).
Final Thoughts
This soundtrack is a perfect fit for these current times we’re living in. Bad Omens mixes different sounds and genres like electronics, metal, and industrial, and the lyrics are about anxiety, toxic loves, and dystopic themes. It’s a work of collaborations, remixes, and live songs.
My favorite part, is the first one, the collaborations. Especially the songs: V.A.N., The Drain, and Anything > Human.
In the remixes segment, Bad Omens brings bands that are not ultra-famous. This should give them more notoriety, so good for them.
The last part is the live songs. They are super well recorded, they sound super clear and perfect. However, even though I love going to shows, I don’t like when bands put live songs on their albums (except some live albums that are classics). I prefer the studio recordings. If you can go and see the band playing live, there you have the live experience. If not, now there’s YouTube, in which many times there are live videos that see and sound excellent, of the band playing some songs or in some cases, a full show.
Recently Bad Omens had to cancel their summer tour dates to Europe because Noah Sebastian is suffering from extreme burnout, and they needed to take a break, however, they announced other dates for the USA in October. This caused a major backlash from some European fans who were expecting their summer shows. I understand the disappointment, but I also comprehend the tiredness and need for the band to take a break, once in a while. Mental health is extremely important.
I hope they can reschedule those dates, and the people that had their tickets will be able to see them live, later.
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Tracklist
- C:\Projects\CJOST\BEATDEATH
- V.A.N (feat. Poppy)
- The Drain (feat. HEALTH & SWARM)
- Terms & Conditions (feat. Bob Vylan)
- Hedonist (Recharged) (feat. Wargasm)
- Even
- Loading Screen
- Anything > Human (feat. ERRA)
- Digital Footprint
- Nervous System (feat. iRis.EXE)
- C:\Projects\CJOST\FINDPEACE
- Artificial Suicide (Unzipped) (feat. Thousand Below)
- The Grey (Unzipped) (feat. Thousand Below)
- The Death Of Peace Of Mind (We Are Fury Patch)
- The Death Of Peace Of Mind (So Wylie Patch)
- Bad Decisions (Lofi) (feat. Dahlia)
- Just Pretend (Credits) (feat. Let’s Eat Grandma, Chief)
- C:\PROJECTS\CJOST\CLEARMIND
- Artificial Suicide (live 2024)
- Like A Villain (live 2024)
- The Grey (live 2024)
- What Do You Want From Me? (live 2024)
- Nowhere To Go (live 2024)
- V.A.N (live 2024) (feat. Poppy)
- The Death of Peace of Mind (live 2024)
- Just Pretend (live 2024)