If you had asked people who would be a band they never would have expected to make it huge back in 2008, your first bet would be metalcore punching bags Bring Me The Horizon who were well known in the metalcore scene with such releases as Suicide Season (2008), There is a Hell... (2010) and Sempiternal (2013). A band who would continue to evolve their sound, especially with the release of Sempiternal which brought the band's current keyboardist and producer Jordan Fish into the fray. The introduction of a missing puzzle piece to complete the puzzle that would propel the band into superstardom and defy the expectations of all their critics. A band once making waves on MySpace with such singles as "Chelsea Smile" would show how much the band has matured and evolved over the years to the point where they are headlining and selling out arenas all around the globe. Releases such as That's The Spirit (2015) and their first-ever UK chart-topping album with Amo (2019) would cement their legacy. The latter however would rather alienate fans with their new sound and direction, especially with pop-rock sing-alongs like "Medicine" and "Mother Tongue". Bring Me The Horizon would be looking to recapture the fans who turned their backs on them with something new, brutal, and heavy.
This leads us to their most recent release, Post Human: Survival Horror which would be the first out of four extended plays to be released under the Post Human name. It was released in digital formats on 30th October 2020 amid a global crisis that would capture all the chaos and the emotional impact of all the lockdowns put in place by governments around the world.
Right off the bat, Bring Me The Horizon hit a home run with brutally intense chugging riffs, reminiscent of their earlier metalcore releases with "Dear Diary." The song doesn't let up as it gets more and more gnarly as the song progresses and beautifully transitions into the raw and vicious highly acclaimed "Parasite Eve" which is a complete and utter gut-punch to the face of COVID-19 (If it had a face.) The clever use of synths and electronics with aggressive metal screams and pop hooks makes it one of the most unique songs that I've heard in a long time.
It is a stand-out on the record but it is no match for the titanic nu-metal adrenaline of "Teardrops" which is a hard rock anthem right at the top of the pile. Nothing compares to it, it's everything that you want when it tingles the nostalgia for nu-metal's glory days. Something which closely resembles the sound of Linkin Park which also plagues other songs off the EP like "1x1" featuring the Nova Twins and "Ludens" which offer some fantastic catchy rock choruses. Though the inspiration can be seen as a good thing to some, but also something to be critical about as it uses a formula that has already been well done and dusted at this point even if Bring Me The Horizon offers more of a modern twist on the purgative sound which saw it's heyday over 20 years ago now. In BMTH's defence, there's been a lot of craving for a sound that is needed during some very dark time that we are now going through and the record is very relatable and touches on a lot of themes that are very present in the current climate, even when taking the pandemic out of the equation.
When it comes to this, we see Bring Me The Horizon shut up their critics again with an instant fan-favourite that features the living entity of cute, Babymetal. They feature on "Kingslayer" and also feature on the interlude "Itch for the Cure (When Will We Be Free?)" which serves as a prelude and anticipates the explosiveness yet to come onto the heavy metal electronic rave of a monster harvesting inside of "Kingslayer." A song that is honestly one of the heaviest songs they've ever released which puts "Alligator Blood" hailing from their 2010 release There is a Hell... a run for their money. Crushing riffs and explosive percussion, perfectly contrasted by Su-metal on the chorus singing: "Kingslayer, destroying castles in the sky." It's adorable for a Japanese sweetheart singing something so dark and morbid which is just so chilling and deeply disturbing, something which was done on purpose by frontman Oliver Sykes who also shines on the song with some eyebrow-raising guttural screams that we can only really truly compare to their early deathcore days with Count Your Blessings (2006). This shows how deep Oli Sykes will truly go into his arsenal to convey a message and get a point across which is deeply admirable as a song like "Kingslayer" encompasses the record as a whole.
A song that will most certainly not be ignored is the cathartic electronic metal behemoth known as "Obey" which also stars the pop-punk heart-throb Yungblud. Many people were intrigued by his inclusion, to say the least, but upon the release. The risk paid off and paved the way for everyone to have a lovely day. Something fans will be screaming their lungs out in arenas all across the world. It's got grit, it's explosive, and has everything you want from a peak Bring Me The Horizon song which also springs in some industrial elements here and there, which flesh the track out and make it something that fans of both artists can enjoy as two powerhouses collide.
There's one last song I'm yet to talk about and unfortunately, it's easily the weakest song on the record. "One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death" or more simply known as "Butterflies" features Amy Lee from Evanescence in a gothic rock ballad. What's there not to love? It's got everything to make a perfectly beautiful and powerful song. They've got all the fuel to fill the tank with, but the car just won't start. That's exactly how I could summarise this song with. Everything it tries.. just falls flat and feels rather mundane. Sure, Amy Lee always is a powerful vocalist and does a very good job on the track but at this point, all the energy is drained and you feel rather numb to the weight the song tries to take. This song is something Bring Me The Horizon has never done before and Oli Sykes clearly doesn't have the willpower to deliver such vocals needed for a song of this calibre so it seems like it was doomed from the start.
4/5