Review: Jack Price
We get far too many sequels in so many mediums these days, most of which are undeserved and over-hyped. Reboots and reimaginings are running rampant through mainstream media. Despite all the crap that gets dished out for fanboys and fangirls to devour, Bring Me The Horizon have delivered their second installment of their Post Human planned four album, and it is phenomenal. The previous album, a narration of a post-covid world, was some of the brit boys best work since branching away from their metalcore roots. Also, say what you want about Oli Sykes‘ media stunt in the cat-maid outfit. We all know he felt fabulous, leave him the fuck alone.
Opening to the sound of footsteps echoing through what can only be imagined as a long corridor in dreamseeker, the atmosphere built with the 19 second track sums the album up perfectly as warbling synth begins to grow, suddenly silencing as a women’s voice states, “Let’s begin” as if to initialise a therapy session. Which based on the lyrics, this album has been somewhat of a cathartic experience for the band, with the following track YOUtopia expressing the urge for personal and societal change from Sykes. Musically, the track has a more pop-rock sound, with heavy distortion on the guitars through the verses, while leaning toward a more melodical tone for the chorus mixed with charming, uplifting synth. The track ends on some layered vocals of Oli singing and screaming, before hearing the voice from the intro track ask “What was it like?” to which a second female responds “It’s like I walked into a dream, and stepped out into a coma”.
Kool-Aid tackles the observation on the state of a generation confused by social norms and inherently triggered, possibly glossing over not only the current political climate blanketing the world, but also toxic relationships and manipulation from people of power. The verses become more hardcore with Oli‘s increasingly aggressive vocals taking kicking in, backed by some grunty guitar, glitchy synth and operatic vocals. Lee Malia‘s unexpected solo is as fleeting as it is enjoyable, over way too quickly. The track also feels like a big “fuck you” to the fans that disagreed with BMTH‘s creative directions over the last few albums.
Fans have witnessed, both in awe and dismay, at Bring Me The Horizon‘s metamorphoses from the face-melting, hate filled metalcore of 2006’s Count Your Blessings and 2008’s Suicide Season, their expanse into a more rock-esc feel in 2015’s That’s The Spirit, to 2019’s Amo which arguably was the most experimental of their previous releases and began their final transmutation into the POST HUMAN era. While not always hitting the mark with their fans, the band (both past and present members) have stayed true to their creative natures, delivering a discography fit for their own growth and for those that find solace in their music. Along with the band’s transformations, their fans have evolved and changed over the years, with different walks of life finding messages in their songs. NeX GEn follows Survival Horror‘s steps, inviting guest work from the likes of Underoath, Aurora, Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw and rapper Lil Uzi Vert on tracks liMOusIne, a bullet w/ my namE On, and AmEN, while R.i.p features as a remix by duskCOre.
n/A is an absolute banger of a track! Introducing himself as an addict and addressing addiction, Oli croons over undistorted guitar and simple percussion, setting the audience up for the massive chorus. Not massive as in heavy or charismatic, but eye opening and confronting. Paired with crowd vocals in the second verse, the song is the internal fight of self discovery and confronting the darkness that looms at the peak of depression, whilst simultaneously addressing the pressure of being a public figure which comes with the pressures of touching the souls of others with your art. Despite parting ways with the band in December 2023, ex-keyboardist Jordan Fish lends vocals to the outro, pairing with Sykes‘ vocals to create the symbology of fighting back the dark and stepping towards healing.
LosT and sTraNgeRs (guys, sort out the format on these titles, please!) both being released as singles on the lead up require no introduction, accumulating over 20 million views between them on YouTube. Keeping with the general theme of the album, both tracks focus on mental state and personal growth. LosT has one of the biggest choruses of the album, focusing in self doubt and inner turmoil. AmEN is an amalgamation of genres, with each vocalist assigned their own section and a beautifully whimsical operatic choir section during the breakdown, à la (dare I say it) Falling In Reverse? The song is heavy, enjoyable, a nod to their roots but with oh so many twists. DiE4u also released as a single in 2021 features on the record as a very unusual entry (this is also the only acceptable time to use a strange format for a song title as Justin Bieber also released a song called Die For You in 2021 so… yeah).
Ending the album is DIg It. On the surface, this track sounds like an apology, a suicide note, with it’s sorrow filled chorus and growing instrumentals. Hell, even the intro is almost comedic, a coping mechanism to hide pain through laughter, another common theme across the record (looking at you, chorus of n/A). Made to sound like a corrupted audio file, with overly saturated vocal effects from glitching to ludicrous auto tuning, even the song suddenly dying off at the 5 minute and 8 second mark (this track is 7 minutes 12 seconds long) before a silent interlude followed by a message from M8, our personal interdimensional friend. Underneath the fancy effects and computer generated helpy helpers, it feels more like a message to oneself in search for repentance, heartbreaking and very well masked.
https://bmth.lnk.to/NeXGEn
