Bring Me the Horizon, formerly of Epitaph Records have done something many rock bands can only dream to accomplish; they have singed to Columbia Record, a mainstream label outside of the typical “scene labels”. Although these labels, Epitaph, Fearless, Hopeless, etc. do a phenomenal job of promoting their bands most bands on these labels do not see much radio air play or large-scale success with touring beyond club tours and the occasional smaller arena tour with co-headliners.
Bring Me the Horizon have joined some of the most recognizable rock artists on Columbia, including AC/DC, Nine Inch Nails, and System of a Down among many with many other great artists. Bring Me the Horizon released their highly anticipated fifth studio album, That’s the Spirit on September 11. This record had a great deal to live up to with the band’s last record, Sempiternal (2013,) receiving great recognition including winning the Album of the Year at the first annual APMA’s. Bring Me the Horizon also won Best International Band that year, a much deserved award after an incredible year of touring to support the well received album. Bring Me the Horizon was at the peak of their career with the release of Sempiternal but have continued to grow and gain notoriety with each single they have released off of That’s the Spirit.
Lead single, “Drown” released on Epitaph Records has been heard throughout NY on rock stations which may come as a great surprise to seasoned Bring Me the Horizon fans as they previously have been a band that was not associated with rock-radio. Typically, their singles have been a bit too heavy for mainstream rock radio but with this single they showcase a different skill set with the same ability to captivate an audience and draw in new fans. “Drown”, was extremely well received despite having a very different sound than what is typically expected of Bring Me the Horizon and sets a good tone for what listeners should expect from the album as a whole. The next single off of the record, “Happy Song” received such an incredible reaction from both fans and other musicians with countless bands taking to social media in support of the song that almost becomes an anthem for rock music and the bands that fall under the Warped Tour genres. Despite some strange backing vocals that almost take the form of cheerleaders the lyrical content of this song will set it apart from so many. Bring Me the Horizon managed to capture in words the power of music and the feelings of being at a concert. With lyrics like “You want to give up, gave it all you’ve got and it still doesn’t cut, but if you sing along a little fucking louder to a happy song, you’ll be just fine” Sykes and company manage to summarize the power of music and it’s cathartic effect in one verse. After a complete listen of the entire album fans will be satisfied with a good mix of the older unclean vocals that frontman Oli Sykes became known for, but surprised with the equally talented clean vocals Sykes started to explore in Sempiternal.
The entire record is extremely well written as a whole with very emotional tracks like “Drown” and “What You Need” that address the feelings of depression that have always been a central element to their albums while blending the new-found clean vocals with the raw unclean vocals that have always matched the tone of the lyrics. Sykes does a phenomenal conveying the strong emotions behind his words on this record with both his unclean and clean vocals which speaks volumes about his talent as a frontman. The only thing more expressive of the emotions behind their songs is seeing them preformed live with the full emotion and production behind each song, which will undoubtedly remain for their upcoming U.S. headliner in support of this record which kicks off this October.
Key Tracks: Drown, Happy Song, Avalanche
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