That‘s The Spirit - Bring Me The Horizon (2015) REVIEW

That‘s The Spirit - Bring Me The Horizon (2015) REVIEW

Whatever Bring Me The Horizon released after their hugely successful full-length ‘Sempiternal‘ (2013) would’ve been hard to top, so a fair few people were somewhat disheartened to find ‘That’s The Spirit’ a tad lighter. Even though it’s not as heavy as past releases, it’s just as memorable and important to the band's discography.

‘Doomed’ introduces this full-length, we’re met with potent beats replicating a heartbeat as though it was the birth of a new era and exploding into enormous vocals from Oliver Sykes. Piercing lyrics ‘So come rain on my parade, cause I wanna feel it.’ begins an electric chorus, brilliantly connecting to the album cover of an umbrella and becoming an iconic symbol for this album.

The next track ‘Happy Song’ opens with what sounds like cheerleaders chanting ‘S-P-I-R-I-T! Spirit, let's hear it!’ later equipped with heavy guitar riffs and weighted drums to amplify the track. Still heavy, but Jordan’s electric synths shine through, bringing a new element to their material. Huge crowds would later be shouting the lyrics back to them, a favourite to later perform live. Then ‘Throne’ detonated to be a massively fiery track and is still one of BMTH’s most played songs on Spotify nearly 6 years later. This track was so thunderous live, having confetti cannons let off as Oli roared ‘Every wound will shape me, every scar will build my throne’. The track ascended to new heights as arenas full of people replied to BMTH in their tens of thousands.

‘True Friends’ excels in passionate aggression from Oli and makes it a prominent track on the full-length, his clean vocalisation of ‘karma has no deadline’ embodies the track inside these lyrics. It was released as a single, but wasn’t received as well as the others (Happy Song, Throne) - when this song is a hidden gem on the album and is definitely overlooked. Carrying fresh vocals, the next track ‘Follow You’ is sentimental and much softer sounding than other songs in this release. It’s a completely different sound to other tracks, not upbeat at all but still very much sounds ‘BMTH’ and provides a love song on this album when it’s primarily full of anger and hostility. The lyrics ‘So you can drag me through hell if it meant I could hold your hand, I will follow you cause’ I’m under your spell’ evoke how it feels to be so helplessly in love, that you don’t care what happens.

An underrated track on the album is ‘Avalanche’ where imagery in the lyrics are insanely clever, propelled with guitars and drums - in this track the band's dynamic is seamless. The way this song is crafted is impressive, ‘It’s like an avalanche, I feel myself go under’ displays Oliver’s melancholic vocals with straight rock.

Every single lyric from ‘Drown’ is coated with pure excellence and honesty, eliciting every emotion. The track is covered in pristine drums from Matt Nicholls, intense vocals from Oli and leaves an overwhelming feeling, as the song means everything.This track follows the same theme in which ‘Can You Feel My Heart?’ does, using water imagery in ‘I can’t drown my demons, they know how to swim’. Eminent lyrics ‘Who will fix me now, dive in when I’m down? save me from myself, don’t let me drown.’ leave this track so intensely prominent, applying to so many people who will relate to these hard hitting words. While ‘Blasphemy' exudes power, the guitars are sassy - reminding us of 90s rock whilst sounding dark and electric, ‘Now don’t preach to me.’ feeling entirely reverberant.

Closing the full-length, ‘Oh No’ is light and dancey, cementing the idea that Bring Me The Horizon can dip in and out of whatever genre they wish, as this song is quite literally a masterpiece. The track incorporates a saxophone solo and a build up of strong drums, conjured with Oli’s crisp vocals ‘Don’t call it a party cause’ it never stops’. This track is so overlooked and forgotten when it’s easily one of their most memorable creations.

‘That’s The Spirit’ was a new venture for Bring Me The Horizon, it holds anthemic tracks where they proceeded to flaunt their talents without being tied down to being ‘heavy’. The title of the record ‘That’s The Spirit’ follows through as a mockery of the phrase when the theme in the full length is dark. BMTH took a leap with this album, they deserve the utmost respect when people compared it to previous full-length ‘Sempiternal’ (2013). Frankly, it’s a part of a different world totally.