“DArkSide” by Bring Me The Horizon | Song Review
Reviewing Bring Me The Horizon’s latest single off of Post Human: Nex Gen.
Listen to “DArkSide”: Apple Music | Spotify
Bring Me The Horizon continues to tease their upcoming album with another single off of the yet-to-be-released/long overdue Post Human: Nex Gen. To catch you up to speed, BMTH has been drip-feeding fans with singles for the last 2 years, the album originally scheduled to drop a month ago. Due to getting back on tour and the powers that be, the band has delayed the album indefinitely until it’s at the standard they’re happy with.
While disappointing as this news is, it does give hope that if and when Nex Gen drops it will be a good album. The singles released so far give a solid indication as to what the album will sound like. Toeing the line between pop-punk and alt-rock (“DiE4U”, “LosT”) to revisiting their metalcore roots (“AmEN!”). While it all sounds great and still carries that edge BMTH is known for, I can’t say the same for their latest single “DArkSide”.
Out of all the songs they’ve released so far “DArkSide” might just be the weakest out of them all. While the production is a bit more electronic and akin to something off of 2015’s That’s The Spirit with a roaring chorus. Lyrically it’s incredibly derivative and uninspired. Its subject matter is yet another tried and true look at the apathy of life and how “dark” things are. We’ve heard it many times before but on this single, it feels so worn out.
Sonically it’s a fair balance between BMTH’s heavier sound and their electronica-meets-rock style that they’ve been leaning towards in the last couple of years. “DArkSide” is helmed by eerie piano keys, distorted synths, and guitars along with some pounding percussion. The problem here is that it sounds very much like something BMTH has done before. The verse/chorus/verse structure is way too similar to that of “1x1” or even “Teardrops”. The last few singles off of Nex Gen have been quite diverse in their styles, which makes this all the more disappointing in my opinion.
Lead singer Oli Sykes showcases his impeccable singing abilities, sounding very reminiscent of the late Chester Bennington with his vocal deliveries here. His voice is layered with different effects that often times it sounds a little compressed. This is apparent in the song’s bridge. His screams are filtered with autotune and other little distortions which takes away from what I assume would have been a heavy breakdown.
Lyrically though is where my issues lie, as this is your typical run-of-the-mill gloomy, emo anthem. We’ve heard this type of stuff before from them and other bands, but it comes off as uninspired and lazy. The subject matter revolves around Oli’s dark side taking over as he becomes more nihilistic. He begs for somebody to stay with him and help him out during this scary time: (“Hey, don’t let me out your sight, can’t trust myself tonight. My heart keeps breaking, can you talk me off the ledge again?).
Again, not the first time BMTH has sung about stuff like this, but they’ve done so much better in the past when it came to this kind of songwriting (See “It Never Ends” and “Drown”.). For a song called “DArkSide” I expected it to be much darker and really tap into the band’s penchant for emotional lyricism. Instead, it’s just edgy and barely scratches the surface of what the band can really do.
Overall I wasn’t too keen on this new single from Bring Me The Horizon. When taking in how varied the last few singles have been, it’s a shame that “DArkSide” doesn’t quite hit the mark as the previous lead-ups to Next Gen have. I’m feeling a 4.5–5/10 on this new BMTH single. Artists don’t strike gold all the time, there’s bound to be duds, and “DArkSide” just so happens to be one of them.
Final Rating: 4.5–5/10
