Review Summary: There are two sides to Bring Me The Horizon. Thankfully, the better side won out on this EP.
Before this year, I had never heard Bring Me The Horizon, but I'd be a liar if I said I hadn't heard of them. The mere mention of the bands' name usually will provoke one of two reactions. The first reaction is praise, likely by people who kiss the ground the band walks on and have everything the band has ever done down to a science. The second reaction is a rant about how the band is the single biggest abomination on the face of the earth, often expressed by those who hate the Metalcore/Deathcore/Post-Hardcore scene in general.
So when I, someone who had never heard Bring Me The Horizon before, decided to listen to their debut EP, "This Is What The Edge Of Your Seat Was Made For", I had to try and keep what I had heard about the band out of mind and decide for myself if the band deserved the praise, or the hate, that it had been receiving. The truth is, there are truths to what both sides of the spectrum say, but not as extreme as they would have you believe.
The opening track, "Re: They Have No Reflections", seemed to barely have my attention through the entire song. The one thing I can say for it is that Oliver Sykes is a skilled vocalist. But that's problem, it almost seems like all of the instruments were toned down so that Sykes' voice would be heard in a dominating form, and it wasn't a good formula. I really hoped the album wouldn't continue on like that.
Thankfully, it didn't. The second track, "Who Wants Flowers When You're Dead? Nobody" Turned everything around. The instruments were louder, and they are great on the song. Technical riffs and excellent drumming shine in every area of the song, which has a Mathcore feel to it in some sections. The guitars and drums complement Sykes' emotional voice excellently. This song was able to provoke an almost somber feeling in me, due to the spoken word passage creating a depressing soundscape, despite being very heavy throughout. It is definitely the stand out track.
The next two tracks, "Rawwwr!" and "Traitors Never Play Hangman" follow a similar pattern as the first two songs. "Rawwwr!" was unable to capture my attention for very long, as a long breakdown loses it's heaviness quickly. Alternatively, "Traitors Never Play Hangman" had a very catchy technical riff and another Mathcore tint in it. It's good, a little more hardhearted than the second track, but it misses the second tracks' prowess by an inch.
All in all, the EP was good, it had two uninteresting songs, but two great ones as well. I'm not going to presume to say that Bring Me The Horizon is a groundbreaking band, but neither will I call them an abomination.
With "Re: They Have No Reflections" and "Rawwwr!", I understood what the nay-sayers say about Bring Me The Horizon, that they are unoriginal and boring, sometimes embarrassing as well. And yet, when I listen to "Who Wants Flowers When You're Dead? Nobody" and "Traitors Never Play Hangman", I understand what die-hard fans of Bring Me The Horizon say, that they're emotional, talented, and fun.
I can see the talented side of Bring Me The Horizon, and the truth is, the talented side was much more prevalent than the boring side on this EP. I can truly say this EP is definitely worth a listen.
