Bring Me The Horizon is a band that is often debated about, being both widely adored and equally criticised and hated. In their third full length album, BMTH attempt to create a balance between the monotonous chugging found on previous releases and exploration into new sounds. To their credit, it is great to see them attempting to step beyond the realms of generic metalcore that is so often found in recent times but it seems they still lack the ability to write decent songs that are widely appealing. I found myself pleasantly surprised with the opening track 'Crucify Me', kicking off with a more melodic structure with additions of keyboards, choirs and strings which make for a more epic and interesting feel, allowing the more generic guitar and drum parts to be tolerable. It seems like a great start to the album despite the tedious length of the track. Suddenly, the next track 'Anthem' kicks in with a wall of bland noise, predictable structure and uninspired lyrics, creating a bad feeling about where the rest of the album will go.
The next track is the slightly more interesting 'It Never Ends' which follows a more interesting direction and contains decent hooks which is then followed by the near unbearable 'Fuck', which for the most part carries a tiresome structure with some of the worst excuses of lyrics I've ever been subjected to, (Let's fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
Let's fuck till our lungs give up) :/ The next few songs continue with the monotonous, stale, signature sound of BMTH with some attempts of incorporating cock-rock guitar solos, 'Don't Go' being an exception with further experimentation of ambient music. Just when all hope for the album has been diminished, 'Blessed By A Curse" kicks in with a refreshing progression and more coherent guitar playing. The album ends with yet another boring and generic track that seems unnecessary altogether, leaving a disappointing feeling with the album overall.
I can't help but feel Oli Syke's vocals brings the whole band down even further. His incoherent yelling seems to detract from the more enjoyable tracks and just add to the noise anywhere else. Once again, the band has relied on guest vocalists in order to save some of the tracks, with guest vocals from Lights being one of the highlights of the whole album and the addition of Josh (You Me At Six) being the only highlight of "Fuck". The whole album seems as if they wanted to try be inventive and for some part succeeded in creating something more refreshing but for some reason, they decided to essentially ruin the album by adding a bunch of bland and lifeless metalcore songs. Maybe they just got self-conscious and didn't want to risk disappointing the legions of scene kids that praise their usual sound. It's sad that the band could've broken the mould and created something wonderful only to bring it down in various other aspects. I guess its subjective in the end, but for me its just another painful album by one of the most overrated bands in the metal/hardcore scene. 4/10
Favourite songs: Crucify Me, Blessed By A Curse
