More about: Bring Me The Horizon

Five studio albums into their career, and Bring Me The Horizon couldn’t be any further away from their Suicide Season days. Moving from heavy-metal and bordering on pop territory, their latest album That’s The Spirit shifts BMTH into both vulnerable, yet potentially career-defining grounds. 

This is the album that should cement them as an institution. Muse and Biffy Clyro aside, there isn't enough modern British rock headlining festivals. Now is the time for Bring Me The Horizon. But the question is, will the new record’s newfound scope prove to be worth the gamble, or show a sad willingness to alienate older fans? Well, we went down to The Beat in central London to give it a listen and find out.

‘Doomed’
As far as anthemic openers go, 'Doomed' is an epic introduction to the album. With intertwining Prodigy style synth rumbles taking background noise under singer Oliver Sykes’ confident roars, it's sound leans towards previous album Sempiternal. The track is sure to prick up the ears of older fans, yet it's as far as BMTH go in terms of dipping their toes into past territory. They march ever onwards. 

Photo: Gigwise/Justine Trickett

‘Happy Song’
Already released to the public, you only need to check the YouTube comments to see that 'Happy Song' is the ultimatum to really skew older and younger fans apart in opinion. With lyrics such as: “Sing along, a little fucking louder, to a happy song,” some may hear nothing more than a soulless chorus line to attain the disposable income of mass market tweeny-boppers, while others would hear the band chanelling the likes of Nirvana and Royal Blood to achieve the pure abandon of maximum arena-ready rock, without losing the tension. The battle lines have been drawn. 

‘Throne’
Once you get past the remarkable similarities to Linkin Park’s 'Faint', you’ll come to figure that the blend of that melancholy scream over nu-metal riffage makes for an intensely sewn together piece of work - a powerfully commanding rocker to tear open any stadium. 

‘True Friends’
The driving rhythmic sections of the track continuously pummel throughout, to give a heavier lift to the album mid section. The lyrical bursts are fairly simplistic and at times predictable, but the tonality staggered lifts are bound to strike an obvious chord with any listener.

‘Follow You’
Diving back into more lighter territory, the track allows Sykes to pour out his heart in an emotional epilogue. Clearly his recent marriage has impacted the vocal progression of the song, which holds lyrics such as: “promise me you’ll never leave my side” and “you can drag me through hell and I will follow you”.

‘What You Need’
Sykes’ ever changing vocal range is impressive during track 'What You Need', where the chorus line lends itself to dual scream and song bursts. The breakdown mid track also allows for a small structured guitar solo, which is rarely heard in newer material. With that being said, it’s clear that BMTH are pushing through their comfort zones into newer musical boundaries.

‘Avalanche’
Weary guitar licks lead into Bullet For My Valentine style choral build ups, only to be met with a disappointing collapse into mainstream blunder. An unfortunate lull. 

Photo: Gigwise/Justine Trickett

‘Run’
The album was always meant to focus on more sinister territories, and 'Run' will definitely satisfy any appetite for the deeper and darker stuff that we know the band are truly capable of. With synthetic sounds drawling under slow drum rhythms, the track is provides haunting refreshment into the back end of the album.

‘Drown’
Everything on 'Drown sounds huge' - and rightly so. The track was literally purpose build for the band’s string of arena shows at the tail end of last year. It was always going to be a teaser into things to come, where BMTH’s natural evolution into accessible rock allowed them to grow their audience out into wider realms, than just metal heads.

Photo: Gigwise/Justine Trickett

‘Blasphemy'
Sliding guitars and moody vocals make this a sure fire hit with festival dwellers. Hold up your lighters and sway.

'Oh No'
An apt title for some, as these would be the words uttered by any die-hard fan of the band's early days, while cementing their position as future festival headliners and the biggest rising rock band in the UK. With a You Me At Six near One Direction level of earworm anthemics, this is the moment where Bring Me The Horizon fans will ultimately be divided once and for all. For the band at least their is no going back - the horizon is theirs for the taking. 

Photo: Gigwise/Justine Trickett

Bring Me The Horizon release That's The Spirit on 11 September. 

They perform on the main stage at Reading and Leeds festival this weekend. For Reading tickets visit here, and for Leeds tickets visit here.  

More about: Bring Me The Horizon