Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal

Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal

I have never been a huge fan of Bring Me The Horizon, I never saw the appeal. Sure they weren't bad, but they were never particularly good either. Their first album Count Your Blessings was a fairly generic deathcore album, again not bad but nothing memorable. Although it did show signs of some sort of potential. Suicide Seasons seemed like they were trying to be a bit more catchy, yet again generic metalcore. Their last album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've  Seen It. There Is A Heaven Let's Keep It A Secret, had an exorbitantly long title and came off again as generic, many of the songs seemed like rehashes of Suicide Season, the ones where they tried to sound different showed that at least they were trying, but just failed to impress. Overall the word I'd use to sum up BMTH in the past is generic. Nothing bad, nothing outstanding, just generic.

That all changes with this album. This is the first time BMTH has impressed me to the point where I'd call it good, actually I'll go out on a limb and call it really good. There's two unfortunate things about this album however, first this will easily be their most polarizing album for their fans. It's a hate it or love it album. Second is the song Anti-Vist which I'll get to later. Just everything in this album, comes out as a cohesive and impressive package, the lyrics really shine in particular.

The album opens with a song called Can You Feel My Heart? already we get off to a good start. The lyrics while maybe structured in a predictable way but they're actually good. The line "I can't drown my demons they know how to swim" stuck with me long after the song had ended. The use of the vocal modulation and the general use of electronics is now less of a gimmick and more along the lines of Underoath where it becomes an important part of the song without over powering the actual instruments and vocals.

Next up we hit the song House of Wolves this is more what fans of BMTH will be expecting, but better. Again impressive lyrics, a nice chanting chorus, an interesting theme, and a hard hitting ending. Empire (Let Them Sing) again is more like traditional BMTH but better, great use of the electronics on this one, The guitar work really shows on this one, and yet again so does the work put into the lyrics, This should actually be a great one to listen to live. 

Sleepwalking has easily become my second favorite song on this album, while the guitars/bass are fairly generic they take a backseat to some impressive drumming, amazing (I can't stress this enough) vocals, and the haunting use of electronics. This is the first song on the album that shows that Oli Sykes actually has a vocal range and isn't just stuck growling and using a harsh voice. Also again the lyrics, I'm just going to stop mentioning them because every song (except Anti-Vist) showcases that BMTH is taking their lyrics seriously.

Go To Hell, For Heavens Sake is an emotionally charged song which I'm sure will really reach home for some people. However ultimately when up against the rest of the album it comes off as forgettable. That's not a bad thing though, the song is still good, with impressive vocals and guitars back to the forefront, it's just a testament to the rest of the album that a song that on any other of their album easily would have been the best, fades away compared to the rest of this album.

This album has been leaked for about a month now, the first song to leak and later to release is Shadow Moses. It's a song I would say really best shows how far the band has come, it has elements of their older works, and yet it expands on it so much further, with meaningful use of electronics and another case of great vocals and excellent song structure. This song will stay in your head, it is catchy in a good way.

My favorite song on this album by a long shot is And the snakes begin to sing, probably their biggest departure from their previous work, it's an extremely haunting song that will have you questioning if you suddenly started listening to a different band entirely, which is not a bad thing. The song shows that BMTH is not some forgettable generic band but actually has talent. It will have you questioning whether or not this is Oli Sykes actually singing. The song is very reminiscent of Underoath, which considering how talented that band is, is a huge compliment, and another testament to how good this album actually is. Basically if I could only keep one song off this album it would be this song.

Seen it all before is a little bit forgettable, although again impressive as a whole, great vocal use, really good guitars in this, it's a bit slow probably not going to be the favorite for any fans. It's just a well composed song that falls to the background behind other songs on this album.

Anti-Vist...Anti-Vist. I can't stress how bad this song is. It starts out with promise of something heavy and hard...and then the lyrics start. "Middle fingers up if you don't give a f*ck" Why? Just answer me why was this the best you can come up with BMTH? After the rest of the songs being so amazing up to this point, showing some serious talent you revert to the worst song you have ever made? Why? I know this is a rant here but just listen to the song and try and not come out of it with the same feelings. It only gets progressively worse, I guess that's sort of impressive. Saddest part is I bet this song will be the one they play live and the one everyone chants along to.

Crooked Young brings them back in line with the rest of the album. Probably their most obvious and in your face, anti-religious song. It's going to hit home with a lot of people listening, particularly anyone going through a crisis of faith. Side-note maybe it's just me but it sounds like he's saying the crooked yoke and I keep thinking of eggs.

The album ends with a very haunting and emotionally heavy song Hospital for souls. It's a perfect ending song really, it's one again that may turn off fans of their last few albums. Heavy is the best way to put it, everything from the guitars to the vocals to the lyrics to the electronics will sit with you. It's a shining example of everything that makes this album great. 

Is this album for everyone? Not really, a lot of older fans will probably be put off, expecting something along the lines of Suicide Season or TIAHBMISITIAHLKIAS, will be disapointed. Others will identify with it and love it. Anybody who was on the fence about BMTH should pick this up it may just sway you. Here's to hoping this is a sign of things to come, this is the first time I can actually say that I thoroughly enjoyed a BMTH album and actually can say it's good and impressive.

The album is out now go pick up and give it a listen.