Frank Presley is a simple man with a simple life-he's a father, a husband, and a person of no real ambition other than his love of heavy metal music. Life is good for him and his family, until the world begins a sudden downward spiral caused by mysterious sounds heard across the planet. Shortly after they start, society drastically changes. Frank changes too. Overnight, he acquires perfect pitch along with an unsettling love for classical music.

But his changes are minor compared to his wife's, as she develops a penchant for cutting herself with sharp knives. The most miraculous change is that of his nonverbal Autistic daughter who starts talking. But Frank's euphoria over this is short-lived as the world's descent into insanity is sudden, severe, and seemingly inescapable.