When you listen to Count Your Blessings, the first album release of England’s Bring Me the Horizon, prepare yourself for a new experience in music. Either you’re a long-time fan of this 2006 release or you’re discovering their alternative metalcore sound for the first time. But what BMTH does so well is deliver an utterly fearless record unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. (Prepare for the screams of all screams.) And even though their sound has “eased” since that debut, metal remains the backbone of their songs, just a bit less “death” metal.
There is a Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There is a Heaven, Let’s Keep it a Secret from 2010 is exemplary of how the band began to change–showcasing a much cleaner, relatable hardness, with lyrics you can actually understand from frontman Oli Sykes. And then in 2015 That’s the Spirit was released–an album that almost doesn’t even sound like the same Bring Me the Horizon, as its sound has totally migrated into a emo-electronic-alternative genre. Critics praised it. Fans did, too. Songs like “True Friends” and “Follow You” are two of the most obvious surprises on this record, even while they continue to explore the darker themes of the album as a whole, from low, dark times to rising above it.
No matter what changes that Bring Me the Horizon decides to lean towards in their music, their following in the scene will undoubtedly continue. They are currently on “The American Nightmare Tour” with Underoath and Beartooth, playing two shows at Terminal 5.
Terminal 5
3/20
w/ Underoath, Beartooth
7 p.m.
$39.50 +
axs.com