Bring Me The Horizon - The New Singles

Artwork from upcoming album - 'Amo'

I have been and on-again, off-again fan of Bring Me The Horizon (hereafter known as BMTH) since they took MySpace by storm back in 2004 with their mathy, slightly messy death-core EP offering - 'This Is What The Edge Of Your Seat Was Made For'. Musically, they were far from the best in their field, but they had the pretty, enigmatic Oli Sykes - who's penchant for memorable lyrics through snarling vocals propelled them to the very top of the genre in the UK. Fast-forward to 2013's album 'Sempiternal', and they still have Oli Sykes at the helm, but they have transformed into song writing heavyweights, taking their dark, synth-infused, Deftone's-tinged sound and elevating their status to one of the biggest alternative rock bands in the world. The follow-up 'That's The Spirit' was a step further away from their deathcore roots (which has been much maligned by their hardcore fans of yester-year) but it captured perfectly what Sykes has recently said about the band's ambitions for BMTH's sound - 'We always wanted to be the catchiest, heaviest band, basically'. Whilst unmistakably still a 'heavy' band, with punchy, crunchy, sassy guitar riffs throughout and the occasional nostalgic scream, they are also now undeniably a pop band. But this, by no means, is necessarily a bad thing - and based on their two recent single releases, they aim to continue this with their new album.

Single One - 'Mantra'

BMTH built up anticipation for this first single with a series of cryptic posts and ads (although I'm sure the fans were more than ready regardless...) and it did not disappoint! It opens with an understated (and now quite typical of BMTH) vocal-synth lick, then bursts into a dirty, funky, heavy guitar riff, before making way for Sykes' recognisable almost-spoken opening lyric 'Do you wanna start a cult with me?' I'm sure many would love to, Oli...

The chorus is as catchy as you might hope, before returning to the huge intro riff and a token Sykes scream. The bridge is a cacophony of poppy synths and electronic sounds, punctuated aptly by the fat sounding acoustic drums. This feeds organically back into one last big chorus, and an extra 'big' sounding outro riff, designed, I'm sure, for the hoards of very willing fans to completely lose their shit to at their upcoming shows. I would gladly be among them!

Single Two - 'wonderful life' (ft. Dani Filth)

Perhaps I was expecting too much after 'Mantra' had impressed me so much, but their second single has fallen slightly short for me. It was only released yesterday (21st October) so perhaps it has yet to grow on me. In light of this - take my judgements with a pinch of salt!

An understated guitar riff brings Sykes in for another not quite sung, not quite spoken introduction. Another low, meaty (and quite repetitive) guitar riff predictably drops. The verse is not bad, and the chorus is again quite catchy, but it is all starting to feel quite familiar. Dani Filth (of Cradle of Filth fame) features, and it all feels a bit forced. His vocals don't suit the song, and the song doesn't suit him. I would also be surprised if many of BMTH's fans know (or particularly care) about this featured artist - it can't see it turning Cradle of Filth fans onto BMTH, nor vice-versa.

Regardless of the negatives, it is not a bad song by any means. It just isn't as good as 'Mantra', and isn't different enough to excite. Hopefully their next offering from the upcoming album throws a bit more variety into the mix!

- Dan