Bring Me the Horizon

Count Your Blessings (2006)

Bryan

Bring Me the Horizon is one of those bands that you just don't understand the reason why they're popular. Of all the bands playing their genre of music, the kids went out and latched on to an entirely generic metalcore band that is playing the same songs numerous bands have played in the past. You can't spend five minutes on Myspace without stumbling across some girl's profile who has a picture of vocalist Oliver Sykes or some guy who has one of their songs as his profile song. What's even more cringe worthy is the fact that almost the entire fan base is based on teenage girls and their obsession over vocalist Oliver Sykes (to the point where when I saw them in Cleveland, every girl screamed when he jumped into the crowd).

When it comes to the music Bring Me the Horizon will definitely not win points for originality, as their music is laden with the usual mix of breakdowns, screamed vocals and guitar solos. The breakdowns are your standard generic fare, doing nothing whatsoever to the song. But then again, they'll definitely be considered "br00tal" by 15 year old scene kids trying to parade around as hardcore kids. Throughout the entire CD Oliver's vocals are layered, as he switches back in forth between lows, mids and highs. They aren't entirely bad, but his scream is rather weak compared to most bands in this genre, making it even more bothersome that he's mainly considered the highlight of the band. And as if the bands overrated and unoriginal songs weren't enough, they have songs actually called "Off the Heezay" and "For Stevie Wonder's Eyes Only."

The saddest aspect of Bring Me the Horizon is if vocalist Oliver Sykes happened to be some hairy 300 pound beast, their fan base would be minimal at best. They're the metal/hardcore equivalent of a boy band. Every girl is obsessed with him and every guy would kill to be him. It's kind of sad when you actually sit and think why Bring Me the Horizon has became popular (and even sadder that for some reason Earache decided to release this album in the states), but it's pretty much commonplace for undeserving bands to be the ones to receive all the praise and gather a large fan base nowadays.

Bring Me the Horizon at it's very basic is a generic metalcore band with a subpar vocalist, over abundant breakdowns and entirely cliché and sometimes flat out pathetic lyrics ('She starts her new diet of liquor and dick / Just like Hollywood, but laced in sick / The sun goes down, and so does she / So clap your hands to the sound of every first born dying now). The only saving grace to their songs is the occasional solo that freshens up things a bit, but a few solos scattered throughout won't save a 36 minute album from being a complete dud. Maybe with time they'll progress and write an album worth some of the praise they receive, but there's honestly no need for them to progress, their fans will love them anyways, even if there are far better bands out there that should be the ones everyone is obsessing over.