From bratty teenage upstarts to masters of modern British rock, Bring Me The Horizon have showcased more innovation and experimentation across their five LPs than most groups manage in an entire lifetime.
After a decade and a half in the game, new single ‘Mantra’ and upcoming sixth LP ‘Amo’ look set to cement their brilliance – though, debut EP aside, everyone one of Bring Me The Horizon’s record remains an essential marker of their evolution. While we wait for Bring Me to torch the rulebook once more, let’s take a trip through their releases thus far.
- Read more: Bring Me The Horizon’s new album ‘Amo’ – release date, tour dates and everything we know so far
6. This Is What The Edge Of Your Seat Was Made For EP (2004)
A scrappy, throwaway debut from a band who many thought would amount to nothing, Bring Me The Horizon’s debut EP remains an interesting, if inessential, entry in their discography. Seemingly recorded in a tin can, and with all the creative complexity of a guitar thrown down a staircase, it’s a wonder the band who farted this out have gone on to become one of modern rock’s most intriguing prospects.
Best track: ‘RE: They Have No Reflections’
5. Count Your Blessings (2006)
Bring Me The Horizon’s debut album proper was instrumental in the mid noughties explosion of ‘deathcore’, a metal sub-genre that fused the extreme sounds of death metal with the pace and breakdown-packed structures of hardcore punk. ‘Count Your Blessings’ inspired a wave of copycats in the years following its release, and while it might have aged like mouldy bread, the highlights of the record still remain some of deathcore’s most brilliantly brutal tracks. Opener ‘Pray For Plagues’ even pops up in present-day BMTH setlists from time-to-time.
Best track: ‘(I Used To Make Out With) Medusa’
4. Suicide Season (2008)
The most pivotal record in Bring me The Horizon’s career, ‘Suicide Season’ saw them ditch the deathcore in favour of something decidedly more cerebral. Decamping to Sweden, and taking influence from barren Scandinavian winters, BMTH ditched the needless noodling and opted for a more refined take on modern metal. If you listen closely enough, there’s even a little melody among the mosh fuel. It was the first indication that Bring Me The Horizon had far bigger ambitions than their first years suggested.
Best track: ‘The Sadness Will Never End’ (feat. Sam Carter of Architects)
3. That’s The Spirit (2015)
The biggest sonic switch up of their career (so far), ‘That’s The Spirit’ saw Bring Me The Horizon embracing pop-rock like never before. Unsurprisingly, it acted as their mainstream breakthrough, the likes of ‘Throne’ and ‘Happy Song’ granted near-constant daytime radio airplay. It might’ve stumbled a little, with the band still audibly tinkering with their melodic sound, but its best parts took Bring Me The Horizon to festival main stages and arenas alike. New single ‘Mantra’, the first hint at a ‘That’s The Spirit’ follow-up, suggests they’ve perfected that slick rock persona.
Best track: ‘Throne’
2. There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret. (2010)
Symphonic and intelligent, Bring me The Horizon’s tongue-twistingly-titled third full length remains one of modern British metal’s most ambitious releases. Taking the grisly attitude of their debut and fusing it with orchestral passages (It Never Ends’, ‘Don’t Go’), pop breakdowns about shagging (‘Fuck’, obviously), and a guttural takedown aimed at their former guitarist Curtis Ward (‘Blacklist’), ‘There Is A Hell…’ acted as the perfect bridge between the metal underground and the mainstream.
Best track: ‘It Never Ends’
1. Sempiternal (2013)
From the opening stabs of synth that welcome in ‘Can You Feel My Heart?’, ‘Sempiternal’ proves to be a masterclass in genre-mashing British rock. The first record to feature Jordan Fish on electronics, it remains Bring Me The Horizon’s most essential release, and the best encapsulation to date of their anything-goes ambition. ‘Shadow Moses’ and ‘Sleepwalking’ are perfectly executed hard-rock arena fillers, while ‘And The Snakes Start To Sing’, ‘Seen It All Before’ and ‘Hospital For Souls’ showcased Sykes’ clean vocals for the first time. A record that your mum could sing along to and your metalhead cousin could batter you to, if there’s one record that proves Bring Me The Horizon are one of British music’s most brilliant bands, it’s this one.
Best track: ‘Sleepwalking’