Bring Me The Horizon

As I went to listen to Bring Me The Horizon’s new single It Never Ends , I expected to be hit in the face by their usual heavy onslaught – which would have thoroughly satisfied me – but I was blown away when I was met with an emotionally fraught track with much more light and shade, catchy keys and choir vocals. The single was the first offering of off BMTH’s recent album There Is A Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen It, There Is A Heaven Let’s Keep It A Secret, which was released in Australia last Friday October 8.

When asking front-man Oli Skyes if the single was consistent with the direction of the album he reveals that the new release was a combination of experimentation with the elements aforementioned, as well as some “straight up heavy as fuck party tunes” the band are known and loved for.

It seems that with each release put out by the U.K metal-core act, their song-writing becomes much more coherent and is of far better quality. “For our first album we pretty much just wrote it in the studio which is pretty mad! For Suicide Season we wrote all over the place, but this album is the first one where we have actually taken time out to specifically write,” relates Sykes. “We went to an amazing old Loch-side mansion in Scotland – in the middle of nowhere – and just wrote every day… it was a pretty inspiring setting.”

And how does a band like BMTH, so inspired by the Scottish landscape, go about creating a new album? “Most of our albums start off with guitarist Lee [Malia’s] riffs and things just get added in by layers from that – riffs, drums, bass, vocals, effects. In that order!” Sykes replies.

“With the lyrics, it’s me,” he adds. “I run all the ideas past the band first, and often they change along the way. It’s the same with the video concepts. As for the music, like I say, Lee has a lot of momentum with that.”

Bring Me The Horizon are renowned for combining heavy subject matter with humour – choosing to name their band after a line delivered by character Jack Sparrow in Pirates Of The Caribbean. However, the title of their new album was much more thought out, and coincides with an overarching lyrical theme. “The album title relates to the concept of the album,” Sykes explains. “That there’s a heaven and hell inside all of us; not just some abstract thing in the sky where you go when you die. Everyone has dark days, but everyone has euphoria too; it’s about that.”

After the departure of previous rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward, this is the first time the band have written with new member Jona Weinhoffen (ex-I Killed the Prom Queen, Bleeding Through). “Jona’s input is great for the morale of the band. He’s really up for getting stuck in wherever possible. Obviously he’s a sick guitarist… also he can do clean vocals so we don’t have to worry about that anymore when we write,” comments Sykes.

The band’s last release Cut Ups was an electronic remix of their 2008 album Suicide Silence. As to whether the new album would embrace or abandon electronic influence, Sykes answers in the affirmative. “Yes, there’s definitely electronic influences on the new record, we even took a specialist electronic producer called KC Blitz into the studio with us. But the Cut Up album was more of a laugh really, we’re not ‘going electro’ – we’re still heavy as fuck!”

It was rumoured that these electronic influences would be provided by guest artists such as electro artist LIGHTS and Josh Franceschi (You Me At Six) featured on the album, but Sykes says their influence has never been about bringing in more electronia, but rather to contribute to the softer songs on the record. “We’re kind of over the whole chugging and screaming for ten tracks thing,” he admits. “We just thought it would be cool to get some more clean vocals in the songs, whether it’s up-beat ones from Josh on the track Fuck or female ones from LIGHTS on Crucify Me and Don’t Go. We think it works really well.”

The general response from fans to the single It Never Ends has been positive. “Kids seem to love it – they’re singing it back at shows and things now. The album is out now, so that’s the big one, we’re waiting to hear responses about that.”

To support the album, BMTH will be heading to the US, but are due back in Australia in March 2011 for The Soundwave Festival. “Soundwave will be cool,” Sykes notes excitedly. “There are some ace bands. I can’t wait to see Rob Zombie!”

The band paid us a visit not long ago, playing with Bullet For My Valentine and Cancer bats in September. “[The tour] was killer!” Sykes recalls. “It was so cool to be touring with those guys, as the fans can be different and we like converting people. It’s more interesting than just playing to a bunch of fans who already love you. I also love Australia, as I lived there as a kid,” he points out, bringing up the fact that his parents lived here ‘til Sykes was five.

Bring Me The Horizon certainly have plenty of Australian fans – in particular thousandsof teenage girls that have Oli’s face plastered all over their walls… not to mention plenty of guys who’d proudly announce him as their man crush too. It’s obviously an odd position to be in. “It all gets pretty weird sometimes,” admits the vocalist.

“I don’t really like it to be honest. I love that people like the band and think we’re cool, but there are five of us, all just as important as one another. For example, Lee doesn’t get as much attention as me, but without him, there would be no band as he writes everything. It’s great that fans come to signing and say hello after shows, but we’re just a bunch of guys in a band! Don’t be weird!”

Hear that girls? Play it cool …

BRNG ME THE HORIZON will appear at the (sold out) Soundwave festival at The Melbourne Showgrounds on Friday March 4 2011, alongside Iron Maiden, Slayer, Queens Of The Stone Age, Primus, 30 Seconds To Mars and roughly a million other awesome bands. Their brand new album There Is A Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen It, There Is A Heaven Let’s Keep It A Secret is out now through Shock Records.