Review Summary: Bring Me The Horizon's debut does nothing unique, but some semi-intricate riffs and a confident performance from Oli Sykes make this an absolute blast.
Bring Me The Horizon have a whole lot to answer for... From making an entire legion of scene kids believe that their music is uniquely heavy and that chugging breakdowns are the zenith of extremity, to somehow swaying the opinion of the masses around the time of the release of 'Sempiternal' and being seen as a somewhat respectable artist. Love them or hate them, the band once jokingly referred to as "Bring Me The Hairspray" have become an absolute juggernaut in alternative music, and are now completely unrecognizable from the band that released Count Your Blessings in 2006. It is a fifteen year journey that sees them now sell out enormous venues without really paying lip service to their earliest album, and for many this is a good thing. Sadly, that perception is misguided, as Count Your Blessings was an excellent deathcore album that falls victim to the fact that there are one too many bands in the genre doing the exact same thing.
Circa 2006, this was not a common style of music. Bands such as Whitechapel and Job For A Cowboy were both yet to release their first albums, pushing deathcore further into the collective consciouscness of the youth looking for a "br00tal" outlet for their angst, and so it fell upon songs such as Pray For Plagues to meet this need. What we have here are ten songs that follow a distinctive formula - semi-technical guitar riffs, mid-tempo drumming, occasional fast blasting section, and an abundance of chugging breakdowns - which works remarkably well. Pray For Plagues opens the record in stellar fashion, with an instantly recognizable series of power chords leading into an addictive series of riffs. The breakdowns are well placed here, and the solo - whlst not pushing any boundaries - is pleasing enough. Tell Slater Not To Wash His Dick follows up this track with similar riffs utilizing several strings and the vast majority of the fretboard, which eventually descends into a series of chugging breakdowns with the repetition of "so throw away my memories" being growled by vocalist Oli Sykes. This is one of the weaker songs, but still manages to be enjoyable. For Stevie Wonder's Eyes Only picks up whatever slack is left behind from its predecessor with some of the best riffs on the album, and one of the most impressive vocal performances Oli has ever put in. He sounds absolutely tortured on this record, from his confident high screams, to his great guttural growls. Oli Sykes was always the most divisive member of the band, primarily due to his transition into a half-shouted style of vocals on the following album, but here he is at his strongest, and carries the vocal duties exceptionally.
The things that let this album down can not be ignored. The songs are very formulaic, and if you have heard one, you have heard them all. I am of the opinion that this is not a bad thing, as they are - for the most part - an enjoyable bunch, but if you can not tolerate open-string chugging and predictable placement of the fastest sections, this is definitely not the album for you. These are minor issues, however, which pale into insignificance when placed next to the real elephant fart that stinks out the album. The instrumental pieces here, Slow Dance and the especially odious Fifteen Fathoms & Counting, are atrocious and the latter almost kills the album dead. Slow Dance follows the same formula as much of the album, but without Oli's vocals, and it just feels totally unnecessary. Fifteen Fathoms & Counting attempts to mix things up, by using acoustic guitars instead of electric, but it fails miserably. I'm struggling to see how this actually made it onto the album, being so dull it could send a glass eye to sleep. Thankfully, Off The Heezay closes the album off on a high, with some of Oli's strongest work here, and some great usage of pinched harmonics.
Count Your Blessings is a debut completely unlike anything else the band would go on to release. They have since said that this is an era they are not keen to revisit, and that they do not like the material from this time, and so it is unlikely we will ever hear a truly heavy Bring Me The Horizon again. This is probably not a bad thing, as I can't imagine this record sounding quite so good when released upon a world where semi-intricate guitars are ten-a-penny, and deathcore as a genre has moved far beyond this sound. For what it is, however, this is a really good effort, and one worth revisiting if you are of the era. If not, stay away, it's probably not for you.
