Bring Me the Horizon - amo
For better and for worse, this one has been a long time coming. If Sempiternalwas the irritated throat fans brushed off as nothing, then That’s the Spirit was their first terrifying handful of blood coughed up after ignoring diagnostics, and amo is the progression of the untreated pop infection in Bring Me the Horizon’s lungs that has progressed beyond treatment. For fans uneasy about the band’s direction in 2015, this album is no easy pill to swallow.
I’ve been rather critical of a lot of bands aping Bring Me the Horizon’s more try-hard anthemic metalcore style since the success of 2013’s Sempiternal, but for Bring Me the Horizon themselves, I’ve actually had at least a little bit of appreciation for the boldness and ambition with which they have seemed to try to push their brand of metalcore since their 2010 album There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret. But with that appreciation of what they are trying to do to bolster their sound has also come with a lot of frustration when it comes to the execution, whether it be the repetitive formula on Sempiternal yielding some seriously irritating tunes whose energy only magnified their obnoxiousness, or the horrendous watering down that neutered any idea of ambition on That’s the Spirit.
It has been about four years since the band’s aggravating previous album, and for myself, the metal community outside the band’s fanbase, and even within, those four years have been spent nervously gritting teeth in anticipation of what the band would progress toward next. And now it’s here. Given the sour turn the band took with That’s the Spirit, my hopes for amo were not high at all. In fact after a series of lackluster maimstream-ish releases so far this year, I was ready for the cherry to top the shit sundae with this album. That being said, amo is definitely bolder and a much more thoughtful continuation of Bring Me the Horizon’s quest for pop glory, and one that is at least more determined and more comprehensive than That’s the Spirit. The band finally commit to the sound they clearly wanted to make their way to, and in some ways it’s good that they’re not trying to cover their bases as thinly as possible like they were with their previous album. Indeed, there are a few tracks on here I enjoy quite a lot.
The band fully commit to the sounds and writing styles of Top 40 pop these days, and this album would definitely blend right in with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes. I feel like I have to address my distaste for Top 40 music in general and clarify that it’s not based in a simplistic, tribalistic feud I see lots of metalheads take part in, where it’s the principle of pop vs. rock or mainstream music vs. outsider music that’s being fought over. No, I definitely enjoy me some thoughtfully done pop music and even some indulgently tasty pop as well. What I don’t like is the sterility of the music from the likes of Halsey, Macklemore, Camila Cabello, or whoever made that shit song “The Middle” selected to be the goal for pop artists to strive for to reach radio/playlist success. And then there’s the despised Imagine Dragons, the only pop rock band in existence apparently, based on how much time they suck up on the radio. I know this is a sidetrack and I know that radio is not the prime outlet it used to be, but it still represents a lot of what pop trends towards these days, and it continues to set a precedent for vapid, lazy songwriting, and corporately calculated pandering. That being said, there’s the occasional song I’m surprised, not so much by my enjoyment of, but of the presence of something enjoyable coming from a mainstream pop outlet, and that’s what amo seems to be going for.
I gave this album quite a few listens, both to really get to know it as per usual, and because this kind of pop isn’t my usual forte, and it was interesting to see how the album transformed in my eyes with each successive listen. My first time hearing it, I knew I was going into a straight-up pop album, and with the ilk of Top 40 stations as my barometer, I was actually pretty relieved and pleasantly surprised to not be slamming my head again the nearest wall for the 51 minutes it lasts. But then I remembered, “wait a minute, this is a pop album, it loves to ride a good first impression, see how it is after 4, 5, 6 listens.” And sure enough, it waned on me the more I listened.
The parts that I really enjoy did rise to the top as the rest sank, but with a better understanding of this album’s content and what it’s trying to achieve, I end up with a lot of the same frustrations I had with the band on Sempiternal and its predecessor, just in a less heavy format/context this time. Like the band’s first metalcore-departing albums, amo has some good stylistic ideas and it works well with them, but the band’s inconsistent results with the repetitive formulas they emply continues to be the limiting factor for them. On the vocal front, Oli Sykes clearly channels Minutes to Midnight-era Chester Bennington all over the project, from the raspy borderline shouted melodies and overwhelmingly cleans, while also making a very pop-influenced use of falsetto as well, and as much as it often teems over with blatant imitation, at least I can’t complain about his execution. The rest of the band are much more present than I thought they would be, not as drowned out in gaudy pop production (which does still become a bit too much at some points, but for the most part it’s pretty tasteful and balanced throughout the album).
Songs like “nihilist blues” do well to set futuristically melancholic moods through modern electro pop instrumentals, while on songs like “MANTRA” and “sugar honey ice & tea” (a cheesy roundabout way to title th song “shit”), the band try to keep the guitar-driven energy high while blending more pop-oriented elements and performance/production techniques, and the blend is at least a refreshingly alive spin on the egg-shell-treading stlyes of this era of pop music. But the band still don’t really manage to make what sounds good on paper actually sound good on speakers, churning out some annoying melodies through the overly repetitive structures that take bad pop songs from displeasing to disgusting. And these songs have some potential and some parts of them that I wish weren’t wrecked by overproduction or cheesy choruses, “sugar honey ice & tea” especially has some invigorating building rock instrumentation in its verses, but the band don’t really follow through on the hollow, high-pitched electro vocal-laden chorus. But then there are the songs that (I think) don’t really have any redeeming qualities.
The songs where Bring Me the Horizon really just lean all the way into this new role as a prospective pop act are the ones where they of course fall into the styles’ predictable pitfalls. Straightforward pop numbers like “mother tongue” and “medicine” channel kiddish lyrics about love and embodying vindictiveness respectively through bland, unimaginative instrumentation. Another “in the dark” runs in kind of the same vein with Oli Sykes doing his best Shawn Mendes impersonation, but is at least a little bit more soulful and less robotic.
Back in the gray area is the song “heavy metal”, which takes aim at the attitudes of discontented fans being mad at the band for continuing to shift styles. I understand that there are definitely a lot of stubborn people willing to let that be sufficient justification for their reasons for lampooning the band’s change in style, but there are plenty of reasons to be apprehensive about this new direction that lots of other people are articulating that the band could have addressed instead of minimizing the criticism surrounding them to the reductive basement-dweller strawman. Instrumentally though, it is one of the heavier songs on the album, ending with the album’s only screamed breakdown, as short as it is.
As far as highlights go, the song “why you gotta kick me when i’m down?” is a convincing electronic banger. Lyrically it oozes of the same kind of inability to accept criticism as “heavy metal”, but at least this song’s fierce potency makes a good case for the band’s being above the type of simplistic criticism they lament. The song “wonderful life” is by far the best song on the album with its gritty electro-nu metal guitar groove and its anthemic vocal melody in the chorus raising a defeatist toast to growing old and burning out. The pop influences are still easily palpable, but taking a support role rather than the lead, with the band driving the song with the down-tuned metal riffage they do well that made Suicide Season and the best parts of Sempiternal.
For what could have been the definitive nail in the coffin for a lot of people like me who hated That’s the Spirit, amo is definitely a mixed bag in classic Bring Me the Horizon fashion, but that sure is a lot better than the torturous train wreck I was expecting (especially after “mother tongue” and “medicine” as singles), and it at least shows that this band does indeed have the potential to do well in this metal-flavored pop niche they’re trying to carve out, and by all means I would love for them to do well with it. I think its important for metal to continue to make good entry-level material for the new generations, and entry-level material that immersed fans can find with new fans over as well and for younger generations to be able to look back at fondly after diving deep into the wonderful world of metal music. I definitely don’t think amo is quite that album, but it does suggest that somewhere in Bring Me the Horizon’s collective creativity exists that album, which only tenacity and further perfection of this style they’ve arrived at can uncover.
I’ve been rather critical of a lot of bands aping Bring Me the Horizon’s more try-hard anthemic metalcore style since the success of 2013’s Sempiternal, but for Bring Me the Horizon themselves, I’ve actually had at least a little bit of appreciation for the boldness and ambition with which they have seemed to try to push their brand of metalcore since their 2010 album There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret. But with that appreciation of what they are trying to do to bolster their sound has also come with a lot of frustration when it comes to the execution, whether it be the repetitive formula on Sempiternal yielding some seriously irritating tunes whose energy only magnified their obnoxiousness, or the horrendous watering down that neutered any idea of ambition on That’s the Spirit.
It has been about four years since the band’s aggravating previous album, and for myself, the metal community outside the band’s fanbase, and even within, those four years have been spent nervously gritting teeth in anticipation of what the band would progress toward next. And now it’s here. Given the sour turn the band took with That’s the Spirit, my hopes for amo were not high at all. In fact after a series of lackluster maimstream-ish releases so far this year, I was ready for the cherry to top the shit sundae with this album. That being said, amo is definitely bolder and a much more thoughtful continuation of Bring Me the Horizon’s quest for pop glory, and one that is at least more determined and more comprehensive than That’s the Spirit. The band finally commit to the sound they clearly wanted to make their way to, and in some ways it’s good that they’re not trying to cover their bases as thinly as possible like they were with their previous album. Indeed, there are a few tracks on here I enjoy quite a lot.
The band fully commit to the sounds and writing styles of Top 40 pop these days, and this album would definitely blend right in with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes. I feel like I have to address my distaste for Top 40 music in general and clarify that it’s not based in a simplistic, tribalistic feud I see lots of metalheads take part in, where it’s the principle of pop vs. rock or mainstream music vs. outsider music that’s being fought over. No, I definitely enjoy me some thoughtfully done pop music and even some indulgently tasty pop as well. What I don’t like is the sterility of the music from the likes of Halsey, Macklemore, Camila Cabello, or whoever made that shit song “The Middle” selected to be the goal for pop artists to strive for to reach radio/playlist success. And then there’s the despised Imagine Dragons, the only pop rock band in existence apparently, based on how much time they suck up on the radio. I know this is a sidetrack and I know that radio is not the prime outlet it used to be, but it still represents a lot of what pop trends towards these days, and it continues to set a precedent for vapid, lazy songwriting, and corporately calculated pandering. That being said, there’s the occasional song I’m surprised, not so much by my enjoyment of, but of the presence of something enjoyable coming from a mainstream pop outlet, and that’s what amo seems to be going for.
I gave this album quite a few listens, both to really get to know it as per usual, and because this kind of pop isn’t my usual forte, and it was interesting to see how the album transformed in my eyes with each successive listen. My first time hearing it, I knew I was going into a straight-up pop album, and with the ilk of Top 40 stations as my barometer, I was actually pretty relieved and pleasantly surprised to not be slamming my head again the nearest wall for the 51 minutes it lasts. But then I remembered, “wait a minute, this is a pop album, it loves to ride a good first impression, see how it is after 4, 5, 6 listens.” And sure enough, it waned on me the more I listened.
The parts that I really enjoy did rise to the top as the rest sank, but with a better understanding of this album’s content and what it’s trying to achieve, I end up with a lot of the same frustrations I had with the band on Sempiternal and its predecessor, just in a less heavy format/context this time. Like the band’s first metalcore-departing albums, amo has some good stylistic ideas and it works well with them, but the band’s inconsistent results with the repetitive formulas they emply continues to be the limiting factor for them. On the vocal front, Oli Sykes clearly channels Minutes to Midnight-era Chester Bennington all over the project, from the raspy borderline shouted melodies and overwhelmingly cleans, while also making a very pop-influenced use of falsetto as well, and as much as it often teems over with blatant imitation, at least I can’t complain about his execution. The rest of the band are much more present than I thought they would be, not as drowned out in gaudy pop production (which does still become a bit too much at some points, but for the most part it’s pretty tasteful and balanced throughout the album).
Songs like “nihilist blues” do well to set futuristically melancholic moods through modern electro pop instrumentals, while on songs like “MANTRA” and “sugar honey ice & tea” (a cheesy roundabout way to title th song “shit”), the band try to keep the guitar-driven energy high while blending more pop-oriented elements and performance/production techniques, and the blend is at least a refreshingly alive spin on the egg-shell-treading stlyes of this era of pop music. But the band still don’t really manage to make what sounds good on paper actually sound good on speakers, churning out some annoying melodies through the overly repetitive structures that take bad pop songs from displeasing to disgusting. And these songs have some potential and some parts of them that I wish weren’t wrecked by overproduction or cheesy choruses, “sugar honey ice & tea” especially has some invigorating building rock instrumentation in its verses, but the band don’t really follow through on the hollow, high-pitched electro vocal-laden chorus. But then there are the songs that (I think) don’t really have any redeeming qualities.
The songs where Bring Me the Horizon really just lean all the way into this new role as a prospective pop act are the ones where they of course fall into the styles’ predictable pitfalls. Straightforward pop numbers like “mother tongue” and “medicine” channel kiddish lyrics about love and embodying vindictiveness respectively through bland, unimaginative instrumentation. Another “in the dark” runs in kind of the same vein with Oli Sykes doing his best Shawn Mendes impersonation, but is at least a little bit more soulful and less robotic.
Back in the gray area is the song “heavy metal”, which takes aim at the attitudes of discontented fans being mad at the band for continuing to shift styles. I understand that there are definitely a lot of stubborn people willing to let that be sufficient justification for their reasons for lampooning the band’s change in style, but there are plenty of reasons to be apprehensive about this new direction that lots of other people are articulating that the band could have addressed instead of minimizing the criticism surrounding them to the reductive basement-dweller strawman. Instrumentally though, it is one of the heavier songs on the album, ending with the album’s only screamed breakdown, as short as it is.
As far as highlights go, the song “why you gotta kick me when i’m down?” is a convincing electronic banger. Lyrically it oozes of the same kind of inability to accept criticism as “heavy metal”, but at least this song’s fierce potency makes a good case for the band’s being above the type of simplistic criticism they lament. The song “wonderful life” is by far the best song on the album with its gritty electro-nu metal guitar groove and its anthemic vocal melody in the chorus raising a defeatist toast to growing old and burning out. The pop influences are still easily palpable, but taking a support role rather than the lead, with the band driving the song with the down-tuned metal riffage they do well that made Suicide Season and the best parts of Sempiternal.
For what could have been the definitive nail in the coffin for a lot of people like me who hated That’s the Spirit, amo is definitely a mixed bag in classic Bring Me the Horizon fashion, but that sure is a lot better than the torturous train wreck I was expecting (especially after “mother tongue” and “medicine” as singles), and it at least shows that this band does indeed have the potential to do well in this metal-flavored pop niche they’re trying to carve out, and by all means I would love for them to do well with it. I think its important for metal to continue to make good entry-level material for the new generations, and entry-level material that immersed fans can find with new fans over as well and for younger generations to be able to look back at fondly after diving deep into the wonderful world of metal music. I definitely don’t think amo is quite that album, but it does suggest that somewhere in Bring Me the Horizon’s collective creativity exists that album, which only tenacity and further perfection of this style they’ve arrived at can uncover.
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