Bring Me The Horizon’s release of “That’s The Spirit” on Sept 11th 2015 has been the band’s biggest selling album yet. As their first release on Columbia Records, “That’s The Spirit” finished its first week debut at Number 2 on the Billboard 200 (Slayer’s “Repentless” finished Number 4) , doubling previous first week sales of their last record, “Sempiternal”, in both the US and UK. BMTH continue to stray away from their ‘Metalcore’ origin as more electronic melodies, softer guitar tones, and softer/cleaner singing is used. As a metalhead myself, I usually lose interest in less aggressive and more mainstream music, but these guys are veterans and have perfected “The Catch”. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have this album stuck in my head every day lately.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you wish you were dead.Got a hole in my soul, growing deeper and deeper.”
Lyrics from the late 2014 single “Drown” re-released on the new album as “Drown (alternative)” or “Drown (New)” or “Drown 2.0” etc. still set the mood for the new album. Singer Ollie Sykes has said this album is about acknowledging the darker side of life and bringing it to light. The song utilizes quiet spoken words to a louder chorus for all to sing along, much like most of the album.
As a metalhead listening to a former metalcore band, I would still give this album an 8/10. There are catchy songs throughout the whole album, fantastic sing alongs, and the slower parts are on point. I would like to hear more heavier tunes being familiar with what they are capable of, but let’s face it that’s in the past. To avoid being a foolish “I like their old stuff better” fan, I will say that “That’s The Spirit” is definitely worth buying if you’re a regular rock listener wanting a slight step into heavier music or a hard rock listener needing some lighter tunes to relax to.
