Review Summary: Catchy at times, disappointingly cringe-worthy at others, and a minimal display of the band's strongest qualities.
Whenever I listen to a new Bring Me The Horizon release, there are a number of different thoughts that go through my head. One is usually admiration at their ability to channel intense emotional experiences and feelings into their music, usually in a heart-wrenching and effective way. At the same time, I marvel at how stupid and mundane so many of their other songs could be. This rampant inconsistency further reveals itself within
That's The Spirit, unfortunately containing fewer high points than the equally unreliable
Sempiternal or
There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is Also A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret. Despite the genre hopping, Bring Me The Horizon haven’t changed as much as they want you to think, though this time around seem to do nearly anything to reach superstar-level status.
The atmospheric, catchy
That’s The Spirit is an eclectic mix of styles, occasionally producing some brilliant material, but for the most part, grinding its knuckles on the ground through repetitive, dumbed down mainstream hard rock and pop music. “Follow You” is the main exception to this, a subtle, effectively sincere ballad that shines in a diverse and commanding understanding of their best songwriting strengths. This embodies the silver lining of the album, how their new sound is channeled through their established and unique use of synths, atmosphere, and Oli Syke’s distinguishable voice. The metalcore sound of previous material shines through the cracks of an atmospheric, messy, accessible new sound designed to fully launch them to U2’s 360º tour-sized stadiums they want so desperately to reach. Whether they will or not isn’t so much of importance right now, as the result relies mainly on their weakest songwriting tropes.
That’s The Spirit is yet another hit-and-miss product; for every unique and interesting moment found within, it will be juxtaposed with eye-rolling lyrics or generic, poppy hard rock. “What You Need,” “Run,” and “Blasphemy” embody some of the most bland and unoriginal qualities the band has displayed, only this time channeled through a heavy rock style instead of the extreme metal and hardcore fusions of early material. Some of these lyrical gems include
"I wouldn’t hold my breath if I was you, cause I’ll forget but I will never forgive you. Don’t you know don’t you know: true friends stab you in the front." or the chanting of
“S.P.I.R.I.T. Spirit, let's hear it. S.P.I.R.I.T. Spirit, let's hear it. Let's go!” by a cheerleading squad. It wouldn’t be complete, though, without repetitive guitar chugging and lyrics about singing along
“a little ***ing louder to a heavy song, you’ll be just fine…. Unfortunately, examples such as these make up the bulk of what the album has to offer. Some tracks are worse than others in this regard, but the only real gems found are the few times that BMTH display what made them special and worthwhile (in some cases, at least) to listen to in the first place.
Much of the best material from
That’s The Spirit relies on Bring Me The Horizon’s well known use of atmosphere and genre-bending. Their creative and original harnessing of diverse genres like electronic, classical, and ambience have all been part of what made their best material so interesting and effective to experience. Those experimental flourishes remain, while the main style is overtly changed and streamlined to appeal to pop and mainstream rock fans as well. This strategy really only works in the instantly memorable “Avalanche” and lead single “Drown.” The latter appears to drop the running joke that is this album’s content in favor of a harrowing, intense journey recounting Syke’s former addiction to Ketamine. The chord-based songwriting and grandiose guitar and synth arrangements hearken back to the best song they ever recorded, “Crucify Me” from
There Is A Hell.... Album opener “Doomed” is a crushing, mid-tempo heavy rock intro with an infectious chorus and nonsensical, but fun enough lyrics,
"I'm sorry but it's too late, and it's not worth saving. So come rain on my parade, I think we're doomed, and there is no way back."
Unfortunately,
That’s The Spirit falls prey to too many idiotic lyrical hooks and over-the-top stupidity of the aforementioned tracks “Happy Song” and “True Friends,” among others. “Oh No” and “Throne” are prime examples of BMTH flexing their arena rock muscles, the former sounding like something that would be played on KISS 108 and the latter sounding like the latest Linkin Park single. Whether those are positive or negative qualities are up to the individual listener. A new direction in this sense could have been a somewhat refreshing return for Bring Me The Horizon, and actually works for a few songs, but it unfortunately falls flat more than anything else. Their latest change in style will appeal to some, but the longtime exasperated fans of the genre-hopping quintet can only hope that their follow-up is a more successful expansion into unknown territory. Hopefully, next time around they will learn something and funnel their established strengths into a stronger and more consistent result, but with five releases in at this point, don't get your hopes up.
