The full EP was released for streaming purposes on November 8, 2012 at The Hype Machine and the band's official SoundCloud channel, five days before the official release date,[2] then was released in digital and vinyl formats afterwards. As with many of Reznor's official releases, it was designated with a unique name and number: An omen EP_ is "SIGIL 03".
The release was announced by Reznor in 2011, and initially slated for a November 2011 street date. However, due to Reznor's dissatisfaction with the output, it was put on hold until he felt it was up to standard, taking it on what he referred to as a "Mulholland Test Drive".[3] The title was announced on September 22, 2012 as An Omen EP.[4]
This was Reznor's first musical release (from either Nine Inch Nails or How to Destroy Angels) on Columbia Records, and his first non-independent release since Nine Inch Nails' Year Zero Remixed, which was released on Interscope.
The first single, "Keep It Together", was debuted on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio One show on October 8, 2012, and the track was released via digital download a day later.
Artwork, graphics and promotional photos were conceived by the entire band, and primarily executed by Rob Sheridan. He used a technique of creating glitch art similar to his previous work with Nine Inch Nails, not with Photoshop effects, but instead by placing raw images onto analog VHS tapes, then disrupting those very signals and photographing distortion through a CRT monitor.
The EP was released in MP3 formats across all MP3 retailers, but the only way to obtain the high-quality and lossless audio formats for the release was to order through the band's own webstore.
The EP was released on 12", 180-gram vinyl and that was the only way to obtain the album on a physical medium, as a CD copy of the EP was not pressed.[5] When ordered through the band's webstore, initial copies came packaged with an exclusive 12" remix white label pressing of the EP's lead single "Keep It Together".[6] This limited offer has since sold out.[7]
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