End of Days is a typical "Music From and Inspired By the Motion Picture" album. It doesn't really matter whether its songs are in the movie or not, since the goal of the record is to sell Arnold Schwarzenegger's comeback film to an audience of alt-metal fans who were in elementary school when he made his last really "cool" picture, 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. So, it's loaded with new music from
Korn,
Everlast,
Limp Bizkit, and
Eminem -- aggressive sensations from 1998 and 1999 that guarantee the attention of adolescent males, thereby creating audience awareness of
End of Days. On top of that, there's previously released material from
Powerman 5000, Creed, and
Rob Zombie (technically, "Superbeast" is a new remix, but it's an old song), plus oldies from
Prodigy and
Sonic Youth; those may be the two best songs on the record, but they feel out of place alongside all the alt-metal. The album already feels like a strange period piece, but that doesn't necessarily mean the music is bad, either -- in fact, there are a number of strong cuts. But overall,
End of Days delivers what it promises, and even if there are several weak throwaways, it still effectively appeals to the aggro-metal demographic that Schwarzenegger needs. But you can't forget about the other big comeback on
End of Days:
Guns N' Roses, or more specifically
Axl Rose, with "Oh My God." (The last thing
G N' R recorded, strangely enough, was for another high-profile soundtrack, 1994's
Interview With the Vampire, where
Axl rearranged and pretty much ruined "Sympathy for the Devil.") Confirming
Rose's interest in industrial music, "Oh My God" essentially sounds like
Rose catching up to where
Nine Inch Nails and
Ministry were in 1994, the very year he faded into seclusion. And "Oh My God" is clearly the work of an artist in seclusion, piecing together something he thinks sounds hip and happening. It's overloaded with processed guitars and distorted vocals, yet it's structured like a typical
G N' R song; consequently, it seems weirdly out of time. It's a less than satisfying comeback proving just how out-of-step
Rose was with nearly every post-
Nirvana progression in hard rock and heavy metal. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine