ALBUM REVIEW: Bring Me the Horizon - POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR

Bring Me the Horizon are a band that I’ve somewhat drifted from in recent years. I first got into them back when they were on the verge of releasing their metalcore peak There Is A Hell… and remained impressed with the left-field touches of Sempiternal 3 years later. However, as they’ve stripped back their metalcore influences and leaned more into their pop sensibilities, it’s been harder for me to find aspects of their sound which appeal directly to myself on a personal level. Nonetheless, when I thought they’d completely abandoned their aggressive side, 2020 comes along and pushes out POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR, a mini-album that shatters all expectations of what modern BMTH should sound like.

Right from the first notes of opener “Dear Diary”, it’s obvious that Oli Sykes and co are angry again, this time for all the right reasons. Lee Malia’s guitars are dominant and Matt Nicholls is on prime form with his breakneck drumming, but most surprising is Oli’s screaming is sounding stronger than it has in years. Even during their metalcore run there were suspicions that he couldn’t maintain his voice if he kept screaming the way he had been, but with a few years perfecting his clean singing he must have had the time to re-learn his entire approach, and the results are obvious here. 

 

 

With that said, POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR isn’t all a return of old for Bring Me the Horizon. “Parasite Eve” still carries heavy pop influence while collaborations with names such as YUNGBLUD and Nova Twins indicates a new mainstream pull for the musicians they are able to work with. However, the production work of Mick Gordon still keeps things tethered into an aggressive industrial spectrum, with the electronic flourishes that made his DOOM video game soundtracks so successful seeping in throughout. The aforementioned guest appearances really help to elevate the tracks on which they appear, with YUNGBLUD’s verse on “Obey” a highlight, while the Nova Twins are a great fit on “1x1” and Amy Lee’s (of Evanescence fame) haunting vocals on “One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be in Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death” close out the album beautifully. The best collaboration is the chaotic “Kingslayer”, though, which features Suzuka Nakamoto and Moa Kikuchi of BABYMETAL. On paper, the combination of Bring Me the Horizon, BABYMETAL and Mick Gordon seems frankly absurd, yet it just works. 

 

It must be said, though, that in such a collaboration-heavy release, the songs where BMTH are on their own don’t feel as though they have the same sort of pull. It’s a similar problem that plagues other metal releases like this, for example Soulfly’s 2000 album Primitive. When there are so many other artists adding their own unique flair to each track, it means the other songs feel a bit… plain. That’s not to say that tracks like “Teardrops” don’t have a significant pull on their own, with strong nods to Linkin Park’s Meteora era, but everything is fighting for attention on POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR and it works against them. While their sound seems new in mainstream terms, it is easy to see where several ideas of theirs have emerged before. Aside from the aforementioned Linkin Park worship, there are also elements which are reminiscent to the bombast of French industrial metallers Dagoba, as well as an approach to genre blending similar to Seattle hardclash alchemists Rabbit Junk. It's not likely that Bring Me the Horizon are necessarily aware of these bands, although it is nice to see such an approach get brough out to such a large audience.

 

All in all, though, Bring Me the Horizon have subverted all expectations with POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR. While it had become accepted that they had moved on from their early era, even mocking those demanding a return to their “old sound” in Amo’s “Heavy Metal”, the chaos of the past year has given them reason to bring a little something back to appeal to everyone. With the band indicating they’re planning on using EPs and mini-albums more often to showcase their more experimental side, it’ll be interesting to see how they find a way to let their new pop-rock accessibility and wild, metal influenced tendencies co-exist in future.

 

Bring Me the Horizon's new mini-album POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR is out now via Sony/RCA. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the band are not expected to resume touring until 2021. Follow them on Facebook for updates.