In 2015, the rising stars of British metalcore, BRING ME THE HORIZON, did something rather unspeakable after the success of “Sempiternal” (2013), which had been quite unanimously hailed as a metalcore masterpiece by both the critics and the fans. Not content with the idea of releasing a “Sempiternal Vol. 2,” the band opted for a drastic stylistic change instead, an approach that would characterize their later albums to come, as well. On their fifth studio album, “That’s the Spirit,” released on September 11th, 2015, via RCA/Columbia, these Britons went all in for pop hooks and electronic flourishes, toning down vocalist Oli Sykes‘s signature screams almost out of the picture altogether. Thus, some backlash from the band’s old fans was guaranteed. Maybe the sarcastic album title was some sort of pre-emptive strike, in this respect? I didn’t even like metalcore at the time, so I listened to this album without preconceived notions about what it should sound like – and I fell in love with it! Then again, it helped that I was going through a midlife crisis of sorts, and I could sense an overarching theme in the songs – painful but cathartic reflections on life’s disillusionments and the struggle to find genuine happiness in a world that was mostly superficial and fake. Yeah, I guess I had to go through my emo phase in my early forties, or the Type II Puberty, to be more precise, since I somehow managed to skip it when I was a teenager. Whatever the case, this album sure did hit a nerve. Musically, it’s an ”All Killer, No Filler” endeavor, although I get it that this type of ANBERLIN-esque pop-metal made all the metalcore purists hate this album with a passion. Let’s see how you deal with your Weltschmerz when you’re forty-one, listening to BAD OMENS and the like…
Given my mental state at the time, it was written in the stars that the first song that I heard from this album, “Happy Song,” would hit a home run. The chorus is a timeless piece of beautiful sarcasm that rivals even the highlights of FAITH NO MORE‘s 1992 album classic “Angel Dust.” I mean, the lines, “So, let’s all sing along, a little goddamn louder, to a happy song, and pretend it’s all OK,” are just freaking beautiful! Pretending to be fine is a common curse of our times, but it’s almost beyond comprehension how Sykes, then barely in his early thirties, could capture the very sentiment of a midlife crisis with this single song. The kiddie choir puts the icing on the cake in a glorious manner, almost like in the dubious FNM classic, “Be Aggressive.” The seamless blend of uplifting, beefy riffs and electronic textures works wonders against the slightly emo-tinged lyrics. If I recall correctly, the band dubbed the album a “celebration of depression,” and I guess it is – but with the emphasis on the word “celebration,” not “depression.” Even at its most cringeworthy, lyrics-wise (“True Friends,” I’m looking at you!), the album is strangely empowering. At face value, the youthful angst of the lyrics resonates with a distinct air of emo, here and there, but thanks to the sneaky, yet uplifting, undercurrent, you will eventually face more mature and complex emotional landscapes. The album is packed with genuine totem songs – “Throne,” “What You Need,” and the absolute gem, “Avalanche.” In fact, I did not come by empowering bangers of this caliber until 2021 when TREMONTI released “Marching in Time.” No wonder I still use this beast as the ultimate yardstick when I review metalcore albums. It might be slightly unfair to new bands, of course, because this album did pull me out of a dark place, but then again, there are no weak moments in this selection – and who’s stopping you from trying to come up with something just as powerful? Typically, I don’t even give a shit about song lyrics that much. It’s the quality of the music that lures me in, the contrasts between the dark and the light – the lyrics are a nice bonus, or when they hit you where it hurts, they transform you.
In addition to all those uplifting bangers, this selection also features a few poignant heart-stoppers. The opener, “Doomed,” delivers a gut-punch right off the bat. Yeah, the song is quite terribly emo, but it captures something essential of our human condition. We’re so fucking doomed, quite frankly. Then, “Run” unfolds like an epilogue to the opening chapter of this journey: what else is there to do when everything is going to shit but run? And then what? As the song, “Drown,” quite nicely puts it, “What doesn’t kill you makes you wish you were dead.” Still, while the album serves sardonic one-liners of this sort, there is a glimmer of hope, which sets it apart from the dark and nihilistic humor of, say, the above FAITH NO MORE classic. Whereas Mike Patton & Co. merely advise you, with a sardonic twist, to “Pat yourself on the back and give yourself a handshake” when you find yourself sucked into a vortex of darkness, “That’s the Spirit” pleads, “Don’t let me drown.” That makes all the difference when you’re navigating some major shit storm in your life.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Doomed
- Happy Song
- Throne
- True Friends
- Follow You
- What You Need
- Avalanche
- Run
- Drown
- Blasphemy
- Oh No
Lineup
Oliver Sykes – vocals
Lee Malia – guitars
Matt Kean – bass
Matt Nicholls – drums
Jordan Fish – keyboards, programming
Label
RCA / Columbia
