Bad Omens refuse to be confined to one genre and the proof lies in their new soundtrack 'CONCRETE JUNGLE [THE OST}'
Bad Omens is back but with something a little different. The metalcore band released a sound track of sorts that is said to go along with their comic book series. CONCRETE JUNGLE [THE OST] explores a brand new sound for the band and pushes the boundaries. The soundtrack consists of a variety of remixes, new tracks, live songs, sick ass interludes, features, and much more. The attention to detail is impeccable and every track just makes sense.
The first section of the soundtrack contains new songs with lots of features. ‘V.A.N’, the lead single for the soundtrack features Poppy and who toured with the band in Europe earlier this year. ‘LOADING SCREEN’, an instrumental track, was created by the band's bassist Nicholas Ruffilo. The title is pretty self explanatory, it sounds like it was pulled straight from a video game. It was used while the band toured as a prelude and Ruffilo also created the animation.
‘ANYTHING>HUMAN’ was a track that fans were super excited to hear. Fellow metalcore band ERRA is featured on the song and it’s a bit of a different sound for them. Vocalists JT Cavey and Jesse Cash blend so well and the guitar is true to ERRA’s style.
The next section of the soundtrack contains remixes. Bad Omens really gave the artists featured on the remixes creative freedom to make the tracks unique yet still be true to the original song.
The live songs are all housed on the final section. All of these tracks were mixed by the band’s touring manager Matt Dierkes who also handles FOH when they tour. Each track was mixed to perfection, sounding so clear and top quality.
To wrap up the soundtrack, on the final song ‘JUST PRETEND (LIVE)’ there is a little surprise towards the end. The track is almost ten minutes long however silence ensues about half way through. It then turns into an acoustic version of ‘Just Pretend’ that is just lead vocalist Noah Sebastian with an acoustic guitar. Fans are speculating that this was the original version of the song since the lyrics are different. The band said they made that song as a joke to prove how easy it is to make a rock radio hit, however with the supposed original acoustic, the lyrics contradict that statement a bit. The song feels very raw and personal, the heightened emotion is apparent in Sebastian’s vocals as well.
The interludes on the album seem to have a secret message in them and fans have started to decode it. One fan on twitter transcribed it and believes the message is “Hello friend, if you have found this message, you’ve completed the game. You don’t have to hide any longer. You must be wondering, was it all a dream? If so, do you see yourself? Are you satisfied with what you see? Do you feel love? You’re nothing more than human. You break, you mend, you do your best to blend in with madness, with the white noise. You are home now. But if you want me to leave, I must leave. There’s nothing left of me to give. I will see you again someday. Goodbye, friend.” This message calls back to different lyrics on their album The Death of Peace of Mind and could be seen as a way to close out that era and move on.
As a whole, CONCRETE JUNGLE [THE OST] was put together to perfection, you can tell how much time went into detail and it really paid off. If you haven’t read the comic books series some of the references in the music may not make sense. However, there are some visualizers the band posted on Youtube to help get a feel of what the comic books are about.
Cover photo: Bryan Kirks