I have been a Bring Me The Horizon fan for years and their ever-evolving sound is one of the things that kept me coming back to their music. Their debut albumCount Your Blessings (2006) introduced to me to deathcore and metal– a realm of music I had never been into but there was something special about this band. They were clever with their lyrics and the subject matter was dark and gritty. I started really getting into BMTH years later when they dropped their album, Sempiternal (2013), what many believe to be the peak of their career. This was the first huge change in their sound, they went from this deathcore sound with tons of blast beats and breakdowns to a whole new side of them. This is where their more pop, electronic and experimental ambient sound came to light. These pop and electronic influences would lead to my favorite album of theirs: That’s the Spirit (2015) This album is where opinions were split between long-time fans– half of the fans were angry because they sounded so different and lead singer Oli Sykes wasn’t screaming as much anymore and the other half (myself included) were still holding on to BMTH. For years, this band has said they don’t want to be put into a metalcore box, and they definitely proved their point with That’s the Spirit, less heavy, more melodic, and more pop influences.
Their new album, amo, came out January 25, 2019. It is drastically different from all their other albums, almost to the point where if the album didn’t say it was BMTH, I would not recognize them. This album is definitely not created for long-time fans of the band, but more so to draw a new audience. It’s as if Bring Me The Horizon said they’re done trying to please anyone but themselves and that they refuse to be categorized. This album is almost completely electronic, it reminds me of music they play at a goth night club. BMTH have always had created lyrics and they still do with album number 6, but lyrical content can’t get me to like this album. I think it’s great they want to share something new with the world and go completely to the left with their new music, but I just don’t think it’s for me.
I can appreciate their desire to push boundaries and constantly evolve and their fearlessness in changing their sound. I think it’s great when artists create something new, it’d be boring if they were still cranking out the same deathcore tunes. I am so proud of what these guys have accomplished as a band and the success of their album, they deserve it. It’s just not something that will be on heavy rotation in my Spotify playlist.