
Bring Me The Horizon — That’s The Spirit Review: Welcome to the Glorious Mainstream
As someone who has never been to into the niche metal-core and death-metal genres of music, I can safely say that the most dedicated of fans who follow bands that fit that label would call me a mainstream “sheeple” and that all the bands I listen to are “corporate shills” or “kissing up to the Man”. Bring Me The Horizon, up until before their 2013 album, Sempiternal, definitely had a lot of fans from this camp of people. With their furious screemo-esque vocals and straight-up depressing song-writing, Bring Me The Horizon found their niche (Nu-Metal). However, given their new style and sound, it seems this motley squad of guys has outgrown their small sliver of the music marketplace.
You can stream the album here, on Youtube.
Ready to expand and breach new heights, Bring Me The Horizon realigned their stylistic principals with the rock mainstream giving us their 2013 album Sempiternal. While this was well-received by much of the general alternative and rock community, there was certainly room for valid criticism of the instrumentation and songwriting featured on the album. Rather than fall back to their old ways, discouraged and downtrodden, Bring Me The Horizon doubled down on their emerging new style, refined it, and took to heart the criticism they received. And thus, their newest album, That’s The Spirit, was born.
After listening to just two songs on this album you’ll immediately get the feeling that you are listening to something ground-breaking. Happy Song opens with intense guitar riffs and a smattering of bar chords overlaid with a well-harmonized medley of children’s voices. The song’s structure and lyrics are a testament to the irony and hypocrisy of the advice given to the depressed and mentally ill. With lines like “But if you sing along a little fucking louder to a happy song you’ll be just fine” Oli demonstrates his point eloquently.
Unlike most its predecessors, That’s The Spirit features almost exclusively cleanly-sung vocals. Gone is the screaming and gravely distortion of their early days. Oli Sykes, the group’s lead vocalist, now adopts a form of mild vocal distortion most similar to the style of the former vocalist of Three Day’s Grace, Adam Gontier. As if to signify their commitment to their new direction, the opener of That’s The Spirit, “Doomed”, puts on display for us ethereal vocals, light electronic synths and modified vocal samples, contrasting them sharply with angsty distortion and deep guitar chugs.
The album is also sonically diverse, an accolade that the quintet had previously struggled to earn. The constant onslaught of power chords and high-strung vocals is a far-cry from the far more relaxed, but still focused, construction of “Follow You”. Strangely, Oli manages to evoke a hopeful feeling from a song who’s lyrics are objectively anything but.
But even more than anything, listeners will immediately notice how “huge” each song sounds. Sure, it’s technically post-metal alternative rock, but every song has the capacity to get you head-banging without making you want to gouge out your ears. You can feel the emotion that went into the songs, and each one has a message about the band of the world embedded within it. Oli wastes no time being cryptic or subtle; his messages are loud and clear. Oli’s songs are anthems to the world painstakingly crafted for the listener. “True Friends” highlights the band’s willingness to step outside their comfort zone as they tread further into the mainstream bringing to mind some of their predecessors such as Skillet and Adelitas Way.
That’s The Spirit also demonstrates Bring Me The Horizon’s willingness to adopt new methods of production and truly make them their own. Throne opens up with jagged synths sitting in the 2KHz -6KHz that contrast very well with the otherwise dark instrumentation. Every song feels complete and full, with none of the shrillness that pervaded many of their earlier songs. Furthermore, it appears as if the technical methodology for recording their songs has also undergone a significant overhaul, as almost every single one of their songs makes good use of every frequency from 30Hz to 22KHz.
The band has also shown their commitment to respecting their fidelity-focused fans by consistently releasing high-quality, genuinely lossless, versions of their albums, starting with Sempiternal and continuing onto That’s The Spirit. While they have made good use of the entire audible sonic spectrum, their overall mixing could certainly use some work. On more-neutral setups, when the EQ is running flat, their music simply sounds harsh and uninviting. While it’s a mild annoyance, it’s not as if the issue is unmitigable. Boost the 20Hz-300Hz range up by about three to five decibels and the intentions of the production team become clear.
That’s The Spirit is a monumental release for this U.K based band, and the rock mega-genre as a whole. This is proof that not only is rock not dead, but there are musicians out there who are dedicated to evolving and refining the genre further, breathing new life into it. The music of our next generation of troubled and angst-filled youngsters and listeners at large is secured, and I feel absolutely comfortable leaving its future in the hands of the very capable Bring Me The Horizon. You’ve called out to us with this album, and we’ve heard. Welcome to the mainstream boys.

