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Trollheart · 10-30-2013, 06:26 AM

There is a Hell, believe me I've seen it. There is a Heaven, let's keep it a secret --- Bring me the horizon --- 2010 (Visible Noise)

Anybody want to guess why I chose this album? I have no idea about this band but I really like this superlong album title. Perhaps that will be the only thing that will give me pleasure on the album, who knows? Sure we'll give it a go. These guys tend to get a lot of stick from "true" metal fans, and I think they're on The Batlord's list of poseur bands, but I'm never one to take the opinion of others as proof without first giving the band a chance to impress my own ears, so here we go.

The opening track is entitled "Crucify me", and for the moment at least gives me hope. It's dark, atmospheric keys and then heavy percussion and guitar pounds through, and there goes my hope. What in the name of all things holy and unholy is this? Not only is the guy screaming the vocal but it doesn't seem to be in time with the music or following any melody! In fact, if I didn't know better I'd think this was someone who had just broken in on the recording session and started screeching at the band! Interesting sample-voices in a sort of choir format singing the title of the album, supposedly added by electronic pop star Lights. Hum. Well the guitars are certainly frenetic and I can hear some promise in the band, but the vocalist is way out there.

Ends on a nice bit of acoustic guitar with Lights singing the fadeout, and the vocalist, Oliver Sykes, seems to have calmed down now and found some sort of rhythm. Mind you, we're done with that track now and onto the next, "Anthem", which is quite honestly anything but. There's great energy in this band to my mind but little real structure: everyone seems to go their own way to a degree and there's no real sense of a band working together to create music. It's more like a collection of projects that just occasionally and coincidentally happen to merge and chime with each other from time to time.

Then there's more ambient synth to open "It never ends", with soft guitar before everything piles back in again, though this time it sounds like it might actually work. There's a good beat to this one, and perhaps --- shock! --- even some melody! Sykes even makes an effort to sing in a semi-coherent manner, and kind of choral vocals with what could be Spanish guitar but probably is a synth effect add a nice little layer to the music. Some nice arpeggiated keyboard running along here with some sweet guitar along for the ride, and it's probably the closest I'd say to an actual song I've heard on this album so far. Mind you, no matter what you think of them, you have to give credit to a band who title one of their songs "Fuck!

Right, it's a crap song, but you have to admire the cheek and the couldn't-care-less attitude. No radio airplay for this methinks! Actually, as I listen to it there's a nice ambient/acoustic piece in the middle, and --- another shock! --- proper vocals, though I don't think they're those of Sykes. Kind of becomes a different song after the third minute, and I could almost like this. Almost. Sounds like violin at the end too! Those violins carry on into "Don't go", which would be almost a ballad if it wasn't for the fact that Oliver Sykes can't sing. Shouting and roaring a lyric is not singing, man. What a pity. Rather like himself from Lamb of God, he's unable to change his vocal style even for a slower song. Maybe he doesn't want to. It would be interesting though. Oh yeah: Lights returns to reprise her vocal role on this too. What a difference.

We're back rocking and screaming then for "Home sweet hole" (see what they did there?) with a sort of punk feel to "Alligator blood" and the pace doesn't slacken for "Visions", but I can't think of anything interesting to say about any of these tracks. Oh wait: there's a completely unnecessary false ending on the last track there, followed by some gutteral growls. Sigh. "Blacklist" has something of electronic or industrial in it, which is weird, but "Memorial", an instrumental, is really nice, with soft lush keys and gentle plucked guitar, and segues directly into "Blessed with a curse" which begins in the same vein. Slow plucked acoustic guitar, soft keyboard, gentle percussion, and even Sykes tries to tone it down a little. It gets heavier a little in but it's not that bad.

Unfortunately then it all goes to hell with a complete mess as "The fox and the wolf" closes the album in frenetic style, as if the dogs, settling down for the night, have suddenly leapt up and started savaging each other. Very jarring, and in my opinion an awful way to close an album that, while I never liked it, I was coming to tolerate and even understand a little. This final track just put me back at square one.

TRACKLISTING

1. Crucify me
2. Anthem
3. It never ends
4. Fuck
5. Don't go
6. Home sweet hole
7. Alligator blood
8. Blacklist
9. Memorial
10. Blessed with a curse
11. The fox and the wolf

Again, a band with decent ideas, good musicianship but it's all very much haphazard and all over the place. The vocalist ruins it for me; Jesus, even a growler can do better than this. It's like listening to someone having a fit. But that's as ever just me. Not a band I could ever see myself liking, though I know they have their following. I don't know if their other albums are like this, but after basically suffering through this, I'm willing to take the chance that they are and just leave it at that.

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_Me_the_Horizon

10-30-2013, 06:26 AM	#2016 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	There is a Hell, believe me I've seen it. There is a Heaven, let's keep it a secret --- Bring me the horizon --- 2010 (Visible Noise) Anybody want to guess why I chose this album? I have no idea about this band but I really like this superlong album title. Perhaps that will be the only thing that will give me pleasure on the album, who knows? Sure we'll give it a go. These guys tend to get a lot of stick from "true" metal fans, and I think they're on The Batlord's list of poseur bands, but I'm never one to take the opinion of others as proof without first giving the band a chance to impress my own ears, so here we go. The opening track is entitled "Crucify me", and for the moment at least gives me hope. It's dark, atmospheric keys and then heavy percussion and guitar pounds through, and there goes my hope. What in the name of all things holy and unholy is this? Not only is the guy screaming the vocal but it doesn't seem to be in time with the music or following any melody! In fact, if I didn't know better I'd think this was someone who had just broken in on the recording session and started screeching at the band! Interesting sample-voices in a sort of choir format singing the title of the album, supposedly added by electronic pop star Lights. Hum. Well the guitars are certainly frenetic and I can hear some promise in the band, but the vocalist is way out there. Ends on a nice bit of acoustic guitar with Lights singing the fadeout, and the vocalist, Oliver Sykes, seems to have calmed down now and found some sort of rhythm. Mind you, we're done with that track now and onto the next, "Anthem", which is quite honestly anything but. There's great energy in this band to my mind but little real structure: everyone seems to go their own way to a degree and there's no real sense of a band working together to create music. It's more like a collection of projects that just occasionally and coincidentally happen to merge and chime with each other from time to time. Then there's more ambient synth to open "It never ends", with soft guitar before everything piles back in again, though this time it sounds like it might actually work. There's a good beat to this one, and perhaps --- shock! --- even some melody! Sykes even makes an effort to sing in a semi-coherent manner, and kind of choral vocals with what could be Spanish guitar but probably is a synth effect add a nice little layer to the music. Some nice arpeggiated keyboard running along here with some sweet guitar along for the ride, and it's probably the closest I'd say to an actual song I've heard on this album so far. Mind you, no matter what you think of them, you have to give credit to a band who title one of their songs "Fuck! Right, it's a crap song, but you have to admire the cheek and the couldn't-care-less attitude. No radio airplay for this methinks! Actually, as I listen to it there's a nice ambient/acoustic piece in the middle, and --- another shock! --- proper vocals, though I don't think they're those of Sykes. Kind of becomes a different song after the third minute, and I could almost like this. Almost. Sounds like violin at the end too! Those violins carry on into "Don't go", which would be almost a ballad if it wasn't for the fact that Oliver Sykes can't sing. Shouting and roaring a lyric is not singing, man. What a pity. Rather like himself from Lamb of God, he's unable to change his vocal style even for a slower song. Maybe he doesn't want to. It would be interesting though. Oh yeah: Lights returns to reprise her vocal role on this too. What a difference. We're back rocking and screaming then for "Home sweet hole" (see what they did there?) with a sort of punk feel to "Alligator blood" and the pace doesn't slacken for "Visions", but I can't think of anything interesting to say about any of these tracks. Oh wait: there's a completely unnecessary false ending on the last track there, followed by some gutteral growls. Sigh. "Blacklist" has something of electronic or industrial in it, which is weird, but "Memorial", an instrumental, is really nice, with soft lush keys and gentle plucked guitar, and segues directly into "Blessed with a curse" which begins in the same vein. Slow plucked acoustic guitar, soft keyboard, gentle percussion, and even Sykes tries to tone it down a little. It gets heavier a little in but it's not that bad. Unfortunately then it all goes to hell with a complete mess as "The fox and the wolf" closes the album in frenetic style, as if the dogs, settling down for the night, have suddenly leapt up and started savaging each other. Very jarring, and in my opinion an awful way to close an album that, while I never liked it, I was coming to tolerate and even understand a little. This final track just put me back at square one. TRACKLISTING 1. Crucify me 2. Anthem 3. It never ends 4. Fuck 5. Don't go 6. Home sweet hole 7. Alligator blood 8. Blacklist 9. Memorial 10. Blessed with a curse 11. The fox and the wolf Again, a band with decent ideas, good musicianship but it's all very much haphazard and all over the place. The vocalist ruins it for me; Jesus, even a growler can do better than this. It's like listening to someone having a fit. But that's as ever just me. Not a band I could ever see myself liking, though I know they have their following. I don't know if their other albums are like this, but after basically suffering through this, I'm willing to take the chance that they are and just leave it at that. Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_Me_the_Horizon __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-01-2013 at 01:42 PM.