First we’ve got the title track ‘The Death of Peace of Mind’ which showcases both Noah Sebastian‘s melodic voice and his guttural vocals. I believe the vocals are the focus point for this track, but we can’t ignore the catchy rhythm and the synth that both provide and easy listening experience. This is one of my favorite tracks off of this album, and it’s one of my favorite singles that was released. This song seemingly talks about toxicity in relationships and how even when it ends, you still miss parts of it. Love can tear you apart, love can drive you crazy.

‘Artificial Suicide’ is the heaviest song on this album and I’m here for it! When listening to this song, I get the sense that it’s talking about the toxic relationship we have with the digital world. For instance, “Soaked in the neon glows, Silver forked tongues talking to you in the digital snow”. Possibly meaning that we’re constantly on our phones listening to and reading what all of these people say online and when looking into the definition of “Silver forked tongue”, it’s talking about liars and hypocrites. We all know that makes up a large percentage of the online world. Other lines that really stuck out to me were “You hate the shape when you have to see, An unfamiliar face on an all-black screen, Can you hear me through the white noise, friend? “If I wanna be great, I don’t wanna be me”. Talking about getting so lost in this digital world that we don’t even know who we are anymore, to the point where we’re using all of these filters on pictures and when it comes to our true reflection we don’t recognize it. Also convincing us that if we want to be “someone” or make it big we can’t be ourselves because who we are never seems to be enough.

This last song, another of my top songs  has a bit of an opposite feel than the title track. In ‘Just Pretend’ you get a slower tempo at first, but when the drums kick in, it starts to be a little more upbeat. Once you hit the chorus, it picks up quite a bit and this is where I got hooked. With lyrics such as “I can wait for you at the bottom, I can stay away if you want me to, I can wait for years if I gotta, Heaven knows I ain’t getting over you”  setting the theme that they’ll wait for whatever amount of time needed, and they’ll be there when you’re ready. It’s hard to not be convinced that this song is about losing someone you love and being willing to wait for as long as it takes to make it work. It’s sweet, really. After listening to the title track and then this song, I wonder if it’s part of the process of grieving the loss of a relationship or maybe they’re not related at all!

Bad Omens did a good job putting this album together. It’s got some places it can improve, but nothings in this world is perfect. I think the album shows how Bad Omens had grown as a band, and how Noah Sebastian has improved as a vocalist!

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