We were sent this image by tipster Dan today, who says he spotted it during his day-to-day work importing music down in Melbourne.
If the cover art looks familiar, that’s probably because the mask-wearing men bear a striking resemblance to Half-Life 2‘s Combine soldier. The only changes I can see are some colour differences and the addition of a biohazard symbol to their helmets.
According to BNE Virtual Shop, Atomic Pulse specialises in trance music and consists of two people: Tamir Ozana and Yair Bar-On. Direct Source is their third and latest album.
With a name like Direct Source, it’s easy to see why the pair decided to use the image of a Combine solider from Half-Life 2. It also makes it hard to argue that this is a mere coincidence. I can easily recognise where the image is from, so I doubt it’s been altered enough to sidestep copyright laws.
I just hope they asked Valve nicely for permission to use the image for commercial purposes, or else they might find themselves in a spot of bother in the near future.
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