The Daily Spin, January 26
Bad Omens | THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here.
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Album: THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND (2022)
Artist: Bad Omens
Link:
Admittedly, metalcore has never really been my cup of tea, but it has its bright spots. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t really class anything on this album under that mantle.
At its best, the album sounds like the best of Until The Ribbon Breaks or Bring Me The Horizon - but it rarely hits those peaks, feeling disjointed, leaning into screaming without reason or regard. The album feels far too much like noise and not nearly enough like music.
That’s not to say it’s irredeemable - there’s a reason Bad Omens are so highly regarded in the metalcore scene, and songs like Somebody Else showcase the highs of their production, stepping back from the screamo to involve electronic elements in such a manner that it’s cohesive, feeling like they’re meant to be there in a way that doesn’t always come together so cleanly for other artists.
At its heart, it’s fun, but it’s not for me. I think the album would have been more cohesive and more enjoyable if it had spent more time cultivating what a Bad Omens album sounds like, not what other bands Bad Omens wants to be.
Rating: 3.9/10
Best Tracks: What It Cost; Somebody else
Worst Tracks: Take Me First; IDWT$