On the announcement of Count Your Blessings: Repented, there were rumors of the listed track 11 being the infamous cover of Slipknot's "Eyeless." On Thursday, June 25th, we got something even better, as Bring Me the Horizon have released their first proper original deathcore track since Halloween of 2006.
To say while I was disappointed that the track didn't end up being the Eyeless cover, to say I wasn't intrigued would not be true at all. To say I was nervous that this would turn into "big arena band doing deathcore with defeating the point of -core part" wasn't lost on me. Outside of the revival scene, most groups don't do deathcore right for me, be it the random noises disguised as breakdowns, vocal gymnastics and songs being all tech-death salad, all the while taking themselves way to seriously, like they were God's gift to mankind. As such, deathcore has been in this weird "coworker music" phase.
So color me pleasantly surprised to say the band has gas in the tank. No vocal gymnastics, no guitar wizardry, just breakdowns, riffs, and a solo. No power windows, exactly as it's written on the tin, honest to gods deathcore.
This is the most angry I've heard in a while. Bring Me The Horizon reminded us all you can be pissed off without all this extra crap. Deathcore is at its finest with riffs, maybe a solo or two, and some beefy breakdowns. What other bands do is overcomplicate it by experimenting too much or, worse, being too boring. I hate the myth of "they can't make anything like there new stuff and have it be fresh." All this song is Oli Skyes being pissed off at this vile world, some Black Dahlia Murder-style tremolo riffs, and beastly but simple vocals.
The lyrics can be simple and horrifying too. Almost as if you can keep the core and death metal combined without betraying both. Heck, even the breakdown reminds me of not just Sykes, but how brutal Mitch Lucker's vocals used to be in Suicide Silence.
Don't tell me that,
Ugh / Kill each other / An infestation / Braindead at birth / Disciples of desire, virulent / Scum of the Earth
Isn't the hardest breakdown lyrics you've heard.
If your not convinced by Oli Sykes' tasteful lyrics about Palestine, the band commits to riffs straight out of the At The Gates and The Black Dahlia Murder playbook. While that isn't technically original, it's more original than most over-produced, cookie-cutter, pig gnarling, blackened deathcore crap any-day. If this means bands will think less about making an actual song with structure. I'll take a divebomb snare, actuall riffs, goofy merch and 808 drops anyday
Bands that take themselves "serious", take notes. No one wants to hear 20 Slaughter to Prevail or Lorna Shore clones.
Bring back the spin kicks, y'all.
Bring Me The Horizon will be touring Europe soon, making several festival appearances along the way. Those dates are as follows:
07/02 Ferrara, Italy @ Ferrara Summer Festival
07/10 & 07/11 Manchester, United Kingdom @ Outbreak Presents Count Your Blessings Repented
08/14 Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
09/05 Rio De Janeiro, BR @ Rock in Rio
The band will also be on tour in North America this fall:
09/20 Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
09/23 Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place
09/24 Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome
09/26 Winnipeg, MB @ Canada Life Centre
09/30 Quebec City, QC @ Videotron Centre
10/02 Ottawa, ON @ Canadian Tire Centre
10/03 Hamilton, ON @ TD Coliseum
10/06 London, ON @ Canada Life Place
10/08 Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
10/11 Birmingham, AL @ Furnace Fest 26
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