Evolution of Bring Me The Horizon (2004-2019)

Anyone who has followed certain artists through multiple album releases and watched them grow older knows that development and evolution in a musician’s sound and style is not an uncommon thing. Some artists explore new territories of their established genre as their songwriting abilities expand, while others experiment with entirely new styles you would never expect to hear from them. British band Bring Me The Horizon is an example of both of these.

Bring Me The Horizon has one of the most sonically diverse discographies you could imagine. If you had never heard them before, and you listened to their first album and their latest album back to back, you would never even guess that they were both made by the same band. While it is no surprise that the band’s music matured as the members grew as people, you would also never predict that a metal band would release an EDM song, or that a departed guitarist would be replaced with a keyboardist who would serve as a huge part in the band’s experimentation.

In their early days, the band consisted of vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarists Lee Malia and Curtis Ward, bassist Matt Kean and drummer Mat Nicholls. They self-released their first demo The Bedroom Sessions in 2004, and later that year released their first official EP, This is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For, which gained more attention. These were both deathcore releases, featuring bloodthirsty screams, beastly growls, heavy breakdowns and untamed riffing, creating an erratic sound that was utterly haywire. Their debut album in 2006, Count Your Blessings, has a similar edge, but more well-rounded and defined, and with more guitar solos. The brutish opening track “Pray for Plagues” quickly became a deathcore classic that would forever be loved by fans from the band’s early days.

When their sophomore album, Suicide Season, released in 2008, Bring Me The Horizon began to hint at the uniqueness of their true potential. They started scratching at the surface of the sonic realms they would later dive into headfirst, while still keeping their beloved heavy qualities. This is a more metalcore-leaning record, with Sykes utilizing more mid-range screams and yells, while his highs, gutturals and growls are still there, but used less frequently. The guitars also aren’t tuned as low, but still implement breakdowns that have opened up intense pits. In these days, the band would open most of their shows with the raging “Diamonds Aren’t Forever”, chanting the iconic lines, “We will never sleep, ‘cause sleep is for the weak / and we will never rest ‘til we’re all fucking dead.” The track has a fuming chorus of high and low screams as well as a grueling breakdown, making for an intense kickoff song that lights the fiery energy in the crowd straightaway. However, it was “Chelsea Smile” that would live on to see the setlist a decade later. While this song features a menacing breakdown and ferocious screams, it also has a soft, foreboding synth interlude. Moments like this along with the two-minute dreary interlude of the title track are the album’s strongest indicators of the direction they would be taking in releases to come.

The band’s third album, with the mouthful of a title There is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There is a Heaven, Let’s Keep it a Secret was later released in 2010. With this record, they used a more melodic and diverse approach than with any of their previous releases, implementing violins, ambient guitars, and even guest vocals in two songs from Canadian singer-songwriter Lights. This was a collaboration that, to many people’s surprise, worked out flawlessly. Lights provided her guest vocals on the opening track “Crucify Me” as well as the tear-jerking “Don’t Go.” “Crucify Me” is, without a doubt, the most phenomenal and captivating album opener they could’ve possibly written for There is a Hell. From its atmospheric intro, beastly screams, glitchy electronics, immense guitars, pummeling drums, enormous chants and harmonies, to its soft, delicate acoustic outro, this 6-minute song is a journey in itself that pumps you up and wears you out, leaving you aching to hear where the album will go next. “Don’t Go” opens with melancholic violins, and when the heartbreaking screams start, you know instantly that you’re in for a gut-wrenching ride. There are parts in this song where it actually sounds like Sykes is crying, and the sorrowful delivery from Lights’ parts flawlessly complete the crestfallen masterpiece. Faster tracks such as “Alligator Blood” and “Visions” are reminiscent of the Suicide Season era, while the penultimate track “Blessed With a Curse” is something entirely new. If its ominous clean guitars aren’t enough to draw you in, its impassioned guitar solo and bluesy outro will be sure to have you coming back for replays. This album as a whole proved Bring Me The Horizon to be true pioneers of the sound that they would continue to evolve further.

When their fourth album Sempiternal released in 2013, it quickly became a fan favorite. With the new addition of keyboardist Jordan Fish, the band had experimented with more electronic and orchestral elements than ever before, making for a record full of epic bangers that would create a surreal energy when performed live. In addition to its strident instrumentals, Sykes had begun shifting his vocal style to more of a melodic, raspy yell for many of the songs, while also occasionally softly singing in a frail, shaky tone. Gaining these new musical components opened countless new sonic doors for them to experiment with. The lead single “Shadow Moses” features heavy metalcore verses, but an anthemic chorus with strong gang vocals, and a sample from 1998 video game Metal Gear Solid. Songs like “Can You Feel My Heart” and “Sleepwalking” utilize the album’s electronic side more heavily, while still staying true to their metalcore roots. On the softer side of the album are “And the Snakes Start to Sing” and “Hospital For Souls.” These tracks include a great deal of Sykes’s somber clean vocals, depicting the jaded, dispirited themes that the lyrics illustrate. With each record taking bigger risks than the last, fans were left more eager than ever to hear where they would go next.

…And they didn’t have to wait long. Only a year and a half later in October 2014, the band released their next single “Drown.” Much to everyone’s surprise, it included no aggressive vocals – Sykes had been hard at work improving his singing, and it had evidently paid off. With his new-and-improved vocal chops, the band had written a catchy and memorable tune that quickly gained them a ton of attention.

Although “Drown” was originally intended to be a standalone single, it ended up being included on their next album in 2015, titled That’s the Spirit. This was mostly a hard rock album, but with a couple songs on the poppier side like “Follow You” and “Oh No.” This record received many mixed reactions due to the band’s dramatic change in sound, but fear of criticism never stopped Bring Me The Horizon from doing what they wanted before – not even when they were a deathcore band. The production on the album is outstanding, and done by Jordan Fish and Oliver Sykes themselves. The process of their songwriting had shifted and developed greatly, and they were now focused on writing memorable melodies and hooks that would hit hard, regardless of how heavy it sounded. While the album includes mainly clean vocals, there are also several moments when Sykes delivers his beloved screams. In addition to that, however, there are also many surprises and strange effects no one saw coming. The opening song “Doomed” starts off with grim electronics backing the exhaling sound made when someone takes ketamine, the drug Sykes was addicted to before writing Sempiternal. “Happy Song” opens with a cheerleader chant spelling out “spirit”, backed by heavy guitars to evoke the sense of irony that the record’s title presents. “Throne” is an electronic rock song with a hook that is sure to get stuck in your head. “True Friends” and “Avalanche” have powerful orchestral elements and huge choruses, and “Oh No” has a sax solo. While the lack of breakdowns and growls was a disappointment for many, the band was transcendentally beginning to break the barrier between metal and pop music. In doing so, they were becoming a gateway band for pop fans to get into rock and metal.

Four years later, in January 2019, we finally got their sixth album, amo. This record broke whatever was left of the barrier between metal and pop. Implementing even a wider range of sounds and styles than That’s the Spirit, amo is an eccentric work of art that throws the most unpredictable curveballs at you from start to finish. It has qualities of rock, pop, electronic, metal, EDM, rap, trap and classical. It also has three songs with guest vocals – all from artists of different genres. The dark EDM-style “nihilist blues” features synth-pop singer Grimes, while “wonderful life”, the heaviest song on the album, features Cradle of Filth’s Dani Filth, as well as a horn section in the final chorus. The penultimate track “heavy metal” features rapper Rahzel, and calls out fans who have given them hate for stepping away from their deathcore and metalcore roots. The closing song, “i don’t know what to say”, is incredibly diverse all by itself, incorporating classical violins, mellow electronics, an orchestra and a guitar solo. Every song on amo is very different, and you can’t have the album figured out until you’ve heard every one. When listened to with an open mind, its artistic motives become clear and very intriguing and thought-provoking. (Full review of amo here)

Whether you love or hate the changes in their music, there’s one thing that can’t be argued – Bring Me The Horizon have never done the same thing twice. It takes genuine accomplished artists to create such a vast range of unique sounds, all of which sonically illustrate different emotions in powerful ways. From deathcore, to metalcore and rock, all the way to electronic and pop, they have proven themselves to be exceptional songwriters all over the spectrum, while simultaneously pulling different parts of the spectrum together to integrate the metal and pop scenes.