Bad Omens - The Death of Peace of Mind (2022)^{Release ID: 34793}

Bad Omens' second album Finding God Before God Finds Me is a perfect example of modern alt-metal with elements of the metalcore from their 2016 debut. We have come to their 3rd album The Death of Peace of Mind where they continue their alt-metal path with more electronic influences then before. This shall be a solid ride! Just tell the naked cover model that what she's doing can't be good for her back.

The ambitious sound will surely win some fans in the rock/metal realms in The Death of Peace of Mind. They even got a surge of popularity from one of their songs being used a lot in TikTok, probably as much as Lorna Shore's "To the Hellfire".

Synth-filled atmosphere opens "Concrete Jungle" that leads into a breakdown where the nu metal of early Linkin Park and the metalcore of Polaris collide. This vibrant mix of influences works in great shape. "Nowhere to Go" has a faster tempo, but Noah Sebastian's vocals remain soft yet widely-ranged. It starts as a hard rocker before exploding into their earlier metalcore again. The electronic-infused chorus in "Take Me First" and its clean vocals take the band's sound closer to Bring Me the Horizon, which isn't unusual. A little disappointing, but still OK. I'd like to talk about the interesting title track which begins with soft electronic atmosphere before the guitar riffing starts rising in heaviness, leading up to a furious breakdown to complete the transformation. "What It Cost" is a short electronic chill-break.

"Like a Villain" is the album's first single in which all the earlier elements come together. There's no denying how anthemic that track is with its catchy chorus and a metallic take on the alt-rock sound of Amo-era BMTH. This song WILL infect your mind! "Bad Decisions" departs from the band's metalcore roots much further with nothing but clean vocals and atmospheric synths. It's actually where Noah Sebastian performs some of his best, most widely-ranged vocals yet. "Just Pretend" starts slow, but when the drums and guitars kick in, Noah lets out all of his vocal emotion. The heavier action will keep you on your seat. As amazing as that song is, I'm both surprised and not about this song's presence in TikTok boosting the band's fame. Another song worth mentioning is "The Grey", heavy while relying on electronics. The insane bridge after the chorus shall reside in your mind. But then things take a bit of a downturn in "Who Are You?"

"Somebody Else" is a bit forgettable while not affecting the album's high rating. "IDWT$" is fine, but it's basically BMTH plagiarism. "What Do You Want From Me?" has a bit of heavier potential, but the synthwave-like beats don't really light up my heart. The greater side of the album returns in "Artificial Suicide" that attacks with a Mick Gordon-esque storm of electronics and guitars, staying strong alongside experimental ambience. The final track "Miracle" takes on the last bit of Amo-era BMTH in the glitchy synths. Then Sebastian screams his way into a climatic breakdown to show that they still have their metalcore roots.

In the end, you have quite a packed experience that can work well in live performances for many of its songs. Bad Omens continues to bring their career to a more global light as they create music for the modern metal masses!

Favorites: "Concrete Jungle", "The Death of Peace of Mind", "Like a Villain", "Bad Decisions", "Just Pretend", "Artificial Suicide", "Miracle"

I must admit, I was less than impressed by the new Bad Omens album when I heard it initially. The record has quite a drastic whiplash effect that I was not prepared for, nor did I want in my alternative metalcore album. The first half of the record is solid with bangers like "CONCRETE JUNGLE" "Nowhere To Go" and "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND". But about halfway through the record, Bad Omens hit a detour and split the second half between more alt-metalcore and quasi Billie Eilish elctropop and cyber metal.

At first it was very strange as these ideas were kept mostly isolated from one another. You would no doubt hear elements of the atmospheric electronics and synths during the softer verses on the first half, but then the record throws the dichotomy out the window and produces full blown elctropop songs like "bad decisions" and "somebody else." "What do you want from me?" might be the most interesting track on the album as it goes more cyber metal. This leaves the last two tracks "ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE" and "Miracle" to close out the album on an odd note. The former is a alt-metalcore slammer while the later is a hybrid of sorts. I thought "What do you want from me?" was the hybrid to close out the album, but the last two tracks came out of nowhere and left the record feeling unfinished.

Upon repeated listens however, I started noticing other elements. Mostly production wise, where the alternative metalcore sound that has become popularized by Bring Me The Horizon makes its presence felt early. However, unlike so many BMTH clones (and even BMTH themselves) Bad Omens are pretty decent songwriters with a knack for productive flare. Sure the kick drum is overpowered and the guitar/bass independence is severely lacking, but the melodies are fruitful, the vocals don't take a backseat to instrumental wanking, and the -core breakdowns are sparse, making each one, especially on the back half with its fewer metal tracks, feel rewarding to the listener. That being said, the album runs a tad too long, the final two tracks feel like addendum's to the real closer "What do you want from me?" and leave the album feeling unfinished as a whole, and the songs "Like A Villain" and "IDWT$" are a little too cringy for my taste.

Bad Omens do not have to worry about the wrath of metal fans rejecting them for commercializing since they were already here from the start. And I appreciate the progression that Bad Omens put on display with THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND. It's a solid listen for alternative metalcore fans, but structural issues and a lackluster back half may keep you from enjoying it any more.

Best Songs: CONCRETE JUNGLE, Nowhere To Go, THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND, Just Pretend, Somebody else.

I would normally file a band like Bad Omens under ‘none of my business’. Yeah, I know that closed-minded attitude is not the ethos that MA is built upon, but it is an important reference point for this album. Coming from The Revolution clan of old, Bad Omens occupy a not altogether incorrect space in The Gateway with their third release. Still very clearly embedded in their metalcore roots (a major strength in their armoury it is worth mentioning on an album that goes to places that are not in many ways related to metal at all), TDOPOM is much more than an album confined to one sub-genre, genre or indeed style of music.

What you get here is an emotionally taut album that sometimes comes at you trying to claw your eyes out, whilst on other occasions comes barring fists and then again sometimes weapons which it might not necessarily use on others. On more than one track though the album comes to you for a cry or a hug as well. As such it is an album that feels vibrant on almost every track; beyond just bouncy riffs screamed vocals though, even the electronic temperance of the synths and the glitchy beats that pepper the album in abundance have their own sense of tension just as much as any groovy riff or raging rhythm section. In creating this cacophony of styles and influences it strikes me that TDOPOM is incredibly well balanced. Unafraid to operate outside of the boundaries of their traditional territory, Bad Omens seem to gather more momentum the further away they go from their roots.

The dreamy/gazey pop sentiment of bad decisions could see the track land in any top ten of popular music releases on any given chart rundown. As someone who does not normally get drawn to these waters it is interesting to see a band so young (we are at album number three here let’s not forget) able to push different elements alongside more traditional ones that I personally am not entirely comfortable with. At the same time the album has enough breakdowns (or whatever the terminology is) and raw intensity to please the more extreme crowd. I can see how this may be too accessible for some but for me this accessibility is not at the expense of that emotional intensity that never falls into the territory of being over the top.

The anthemic choruses of Like A Villain, Just Pretend and CONCRETE JUNGLE are destined to be in my head for weeks yet but there is something about how they are written and structured that makes them interesting as well as contagiously memorable. In the more peaceful passages, I can liken proceedings to the likes of House of Heaven or Glaare (post-punk) and the groove metal edges to some of the riffs being deployed are straight out of the 90s to these ears. That is the variety on show here on what is one of my unique finds and most unexpected finds for a while.

Curved ball though it may be for me in terms of how much I do like this, it is not flawless. The record needs a trim and on a couple of occasions it flaunts itself as being something it is not. Who are you? is just a pop track that seems to be pushed as opposed to composed. Similarly, ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE just feels like something that they had to get off their chest as opposed to something that contributes anything of significance to the album overall. I find the songs are more interesting when they incorporate elements of everything in their repertoire as opposed to them always being able to stand up as separate entities that have exceeded known norms. I still maintain that this is a neat if not sought after find for me.