Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal

Review by Brady Deeprose

RCA Records/Epitaph Records

From one of the forerunners of the modern metalcore genre with Count Your Blessings and Suicide Season  to the anthemic hardcore-tinged hit-parade There Is A Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen It, There Is A Heaven Let’s Keep It A Secret, Sheffield’s Bring Me The Horizon have been pushing the boundaries and riding the first wave of some sweeping genre crazes. Their much anticipated 2013 release Sempiternal sees a continuation of this trend: doing something new and doing it well.

The album is a collection of electro-ridden anthems with a strong emphasis on the melodic side of things. After firing guitarist Jona Weinhofen, his role was taken over by keyboardist Jordan Fish, which could go some way to explaining the heavy use of synths and effects on the album. Aside from ‘Antivist’, a brash, foul-mouthed burst of aggression, the album sees a slightly more mature approach to BMTH’s song-writing. The sensational ‘And The Snakes Start To Sing’ is a standout with the famous (or infamous if you prefer) Oli Sykes sounding better than ever. Obviously, he’s taken some vocal tuition and his range has grown, displaying some actual singing in this track which really suits him and in some others, his pitched screams have made the world of difference to the bands overall sound.

BMTH are a band that haven’t really settled into shoes of any sort but have been ever growing since their 2006 debut. Sempiternal is Bring Me at their most original and inspiring. They’ve really nailed their own sound and created a more genuine, original identity. It’s really refreshing to see a ‘scene/metalcore’ band break away from the cliché aspects of the genre and experiment a little. What I think it lacks however, are a few good old fashioned riffs. The album has a very chord based feeling with no real ‘punch in the face’ riffs (bar ‘Shadow Moses’ which even then is a bit ‘so what?’)

For me, this isn’t their best album but it is definitely their most original sounding and has laid a great foundation for future works. I really hope they approach their next release with as much maturity and originality but maybe try to incorporate some of the heaviness and riffs that made their older music so appealing.

7 out of 10

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Track listing:

1. Can You Feel My Heart?
2. The House Of Wolves
3. Empire (Let Them Sing)
4. Sleepwalking
5. Go To Hell, For Heaven’s Sake
6. Shadow Moses
7. And The Snakes Start To Sing
8. Seen It All Before
9. Antivist
10. Crooked Young
11. Hospital For Souls