Bad Omens is an American rock band consisting of vocalist, frontman and producer Noah Sebastian, guitarists Nicholas Ruffilo and Joakim "Jolly" Karlsson and drummer Nick Folio.
The band, primarily from Richmond, Virginia, formed in 2015 and released their debut self-titled album in 2016. In 2019, they released "Finding God Before God Finds Me", followed by a deluxe version of that album released in 2020. They also have a live album appropriately titled "LIVE", that was released in 2021.
Their third album, "The Death of Peace of Mind", released in 2022, was a turning point for the band, thanks to the explosion of popularity of "Just Pretend", which earned them their first number-one hit on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart, as well as their first certification award (gold) and more.
The band's music has been compared to that of Bring Me the Horizon, among other metalcore bands.
Discography
- "Bad Omens" (2016)
- ''Finding God Before God Finds Me" (2019)
- ''Finding God Before God Finds Me (Deluxe)" (2020)
- "LIVE" (2021)
- "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND" (2022)
This band provides examples of the following tropes:
- Album Title Drop: "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND" from, well, "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND".
- Audience Participation: The band throws out ski masks with symbols standing for "death", "peace" and "mind" embroidered on them into the crowd before they perform "Dethrone" and asks for fans to put them on before they start. The same masks are also available at VIP events and for sale at the merch table. Noah also makes the crowd chant "concrete", "jungle" or both at the same time at various points during their live performances.
- Badass Boast: In "Dethrone":
- ''Here am I, take me to the pearly gates/So I can look you in the eye when I spit in your face/Here am I, take me to the pearly gates/Don't let 'em hit you on the way out when I take your place"
- But Not Too Foreign: Noah is half-Japanese and half-American. Subverted with Jolly, who is from Sweden.
- Emo Teen: Incredibly obvious when watching old videos and vines of Noah.
- Fading into the Next Song: "What It Cost" fades immediately into "Like A Villain".
- Genre Roulette: "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND" is this. You have "ARTIFICAL SUICIDE", which fits right in with the harsher and guttural tone of the band's earlier works, alongside "Just Pretend", which is incredibly radio-friendly and almost leans into pop territory. Then you have "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND" itself, a full of synths intertwined with Noah's screaming.
- I Am the Band: Noah Sebastian, and how.
- Important Haircut: Noah cut the long hair he commonly sported in the early days of the band between the "Finding God Before God Finds Me" and "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND" eras, signaling a shift in song styles, among other things.
- Irony: "Just Pretend" was written to parody a radio rock hit...then ended up becoming a radio hit itself, according to an interview
. - Live Album: Simply called "LIVE", which was released in July 2021 and includes songs like "Glass Houses", "Limits" and "Dethrone".
- Longhaired Pretty Boy: Noah qualified until he cut his hair.
- Lucky Charms Title: "IDWT$" from "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND".
- Metalcore: Where the band started prior to the release of "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND", though a few songs from that album lean on this.
- Metal Scream: As is common in the genre. Special shout out to "Malice" and "Dethrone" though.
- Money Song: "IDWT$" (I Don't Want the Money)
- Mr. Fanservice: Search Noah Sebastian on TikTok and you'll see...ahem, quite a few videos dedicated to his attractiveness, though the rest of the band members aren't exempt either. There's no shortage of screams during a show when Noah takes off his jacket to reveal a typically tight black tank top either.
- New Sound Album: How many longtime fans consider "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND", which is their most radio friendly album to date, with the exception of a few songs.
- One-Word Title: From each album, we have:
- "Crawl", "Hedonist", "Malice" and "F E R A L" from "Bad Omens"
- "Dethrone", "Blood" and "Mercy" from "Finding God Before God Finds Me". The deluxe version of this album saw the inclusion of "Limits".
- "IDWT$" and "Miracle" from "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND"
- Religion Rant Song: "Dethrone" falls into Type 1.
- Self-Titled Album: Their debut album.
- Studio Chatter: At the end of "Dethrone", you can hear Noah coughing and saying "shit" before it ends.
- Take That!: Noah Sebastian in no fan of religion, if "Dethrone" is any indication:
- ''If he's there/I've got a message for the man that's up above/fuck you"
- Textless Album Cover: "THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND", "Finding God Before God Finds Me" and their self-titled album feature no words on the title.
- True Companions: How Noah refers to his bandmates in various interviews. Also extends to members of their touring crew, which has remained mostly unchanged since the band's inception.
