Review Summary: Audio-bile.
There’s a certain amount of respect to be had for a band that progresses between releases. More often than not there’s a showcase of growth, either personal or in talent which is in turn reflective at a songwriting standpoint. It’s also refreshing to think that these natural changes and developments benefit the band and also their listeners.
Bring Me The Horizon however, fails to deliver in this fashion.
Personally, I’ll admit a level of hesitation when it comes to new Bring Me The Horizon music. Having openly criticised the band’s alleged opus,
Sempiternal for its terrible cohesion and disjointed song writing (along with a few other vague comparisons) as well as the proverbial train wreck that followed al a
That’s The Spirit my levels for expectation are as about as low as Trump’s business morals. Regardless, the stagnant ideas and all over the place musical ideas are a given.
Despite these mixed feelings, I made a beeline for the Dani Filth featured “Wonderful Life” (as well as the video it came with) and was instantly greeted by Oli’s penchant for terrible lyricism and quirks that somehow carried me to the end of the track. My reservations and predispositions were well met, but there was a niggle that maybe, just maybe I wasn’t giving this the go it needed. While Filth’s cameo is small, it adds a real flourish to “Wonderful Life” and subtlety turns my head in favour (for the first time) to BMTH’s flair for self revolution. But there’s a problem here; with an open mind came more misgivings.
Having cemented their move away from the more metal soundscapes that defined the group’s early days, the more electro-fused, pop laced stylings that first latched onto the cells before completing a full metastasis only pushes Oli’s terribly predictable lyricism to the forefront of issues (see: “Medicine” and “Mother Tongue”). Sure, the average fan may pen this down as evolution or development of a band not willing to do the same things over and over again, but the issues lie not in the attempt, but the attempt at quality. There’s the occasional silver lining, with the likes of “Mantra” combining hook and infectious beat, highlighting how the rest of the band are as much at fault for the rest of the record’s overall blandness and loose standards. Bring Me The Horizon’s latest offering hasn’t moved very far from the standards set within
That’s The Spirit, but has certainly added to the band’s commercial viability. That’s not to be seen in a negative light but the new album’s subtle nuances start to overbear, contrasting positive bombastic tones with melancholic self indulgence, made worse with every overused tripe (to the point of copy/paste) found within modern electro pop. But the degree of sameness soon becomes outweighed by the typical BMTH approach to negatively geared versatility.
The overall embracing of electronica based pop rock may be a natural step for Bring Me The Horizon and their musical direction, but it’s not made natural by a band trying so hard to make a workable transition.
Amo is flawed and resentful of the path it’s chosen, highlighting the mess of a musical force Oli fronts. For every simplistic use of stereotype, for every obvious hook Bring Me The Horizon provide equal parts mess and mayhem. For what it’s worth,
Amo isn’t a complete write off - but it’s got a long way to go before it can be considered a decent listen.
