Bring Me The Horizon ushers us to their new musical era with the band’s sixth studio album Amo. 

I APOLOGIZE IF YOU FEEL SOMETHING

Intro songs are how artists introduce an album to their audience. It’s supposed to give the listener a first taste of what to expect in the next 40 – 60 minutes. With that said, BMTH gives no fucks in subtlety as they plunge the listener headfirst into the album with this lush synth-driven track filled with heavily reverbed and clean vocals. Yes, clean. This album has mostly clean vocals so the heavy music fans might be disappointed with that.

The band sings “Don’t be afraid to wonder, don’t be afraid to be scared. It should never be a prison”. Which I’d like to take as the band telling their audience to give the album a shot without boxing it with their own subjective and expected opinions of how the band’s music should be.

MANTRA

Following the soft intro, the band does a 180° turn and gives us a rumbling intro for the album’s lead single “Mantra”. The opening lead guitar riff, despite being less heavier and complex than their older riffs, still packs a punch that reminds the listener that the band hasn’t completely turned away from their heavier roots.

The verses are sung in clean vocals with a fairly simple melody and a droning guitar riff trailing behind it. Ambient elements give the 2nd verse a fuller sound as it catapults the song into the chorus.

In typical BMTH fashion, the chorus sounds like a soaring stadium-anthem. By this point, it’s clear that BMTH is focusing on being more melodic than heavy in this album.

NIHILIST BLUES

Clocking in at 5 minutes and 27 seconds, Nihilist Blues sounds way too long and EDM dance-pop for comfort. It definitely sounds like something someone can play and dance to in a club. The pre-choruses are crazy catchy though which will stay playing in your head for quite a while so be prepared for that.

Grimes is featured on this track which was a brilliant choice. She brought fluid energy into the song unlike most collaborations where the featured artist feels like they’re just singing ON TOP of the song instead of singing in it, if that even makes sense.

While I wont be actively pursuing to play this track, I do appreciate the tastefulness of it’s treatment by having a cohesive presentation of nihilism in both the lyrics and music. Oli’s writing style in this song perfectly presents the stream of consciousness of someone who understands that existence in this floating rock probably doesn’t really matter in the greater scheme of things, so they might as well dance away their internal despair.

IN THE DARK

In The Dark dives straight to the 1st verse after a very sparse vocal intro. The vocal melody for the verse is definitely pop. Boyband-pop. At this point, if you’re still angry over BMTH going soft, maybe it’s time to turn the music off and find another band to listen to. However, if you’ve gotten over that fact and decided to listen to the album with fresh ears, the song despite being predictable is still pretty catchy.

The song is supported with lightly distorted guitars and synths as well as programmed percussion peppered in for spice (the whole album is though so don’t be surprised as we continue listening on our way).

WONDERFUL LIFE

The 3rd single of the album, this song will be liked by the old-school fans who wants something on the heavier side.

The song enters with distorted muted notes which Oli sings on top of with quite an awkward sung-spoken melody which then powers through with a very sludgy and thick slow riff that can make you bang your head and close your eyes. The booming breakdown feels thunderous as you absorb the bass and pounding drum beat. I honestly love this breakdown so much despite it being so basic. It has quite a cathartic feel to it.

Oli sings the melodic chorus while still retaining heaviness which BMTH has perfected during their Sempiternal era. The song is about finding joy in the mundane parts of life despite having a dark and nihilistic view on it which I think the song presents perfectly by the band by treating the song in a way that makes it sound dark, heavy (at times), and fun at the same time.

Dani Filth features on the song’s bridge. While I personally would have liked this song to be heavier, Filth delivers his signature gurgling vocals that still sound tasteful and musical. The bridge builds up into another round of that breakdown which sounds just so satisfying. If my ears had hypothetical mouths, they would slurp down this part like soup.

The song closes with a wall of an epic resounding brass section that definitely hits the right spot.

OUCH

The listener is given a break from the previous track’s heaviness with this smooth and lush track. I honestly prefer this track over the album’s intro. It’s been given a proper electro-pop treatment. Heavily synth-driven with a bass and drum beat, this song might be easily overlooked by most but a closer listen proves that this song is pretty golden.

The production was clearly done meticulously. Despite being a short track, none of it makes it feel like a filler song. The lyrics “I know I said you could drag me through hell but I hoped you wouldn’t fuck the devil” is a very direct and genius response to the song’s earlier song “Follow You” from their album That’s the Spirit.

MEDICINE

Medicine is of my favorite tracks in this album. I got inspired after doing an analysis of a metal cover of this song which then made me want to review the album as a whole so, here I am.

This single made a lot of eyebrows raise upon it’s release due to how “soft” it is. Personally, I’m glad BMTH made the song’s production soft and poppy because it fits the overall melody, lyrics, and mood of the song. The expected blasting guitars which used to be a signature BMTH sound was toned down and made to take the back seat in this track which is great because a lot of background elements got to breathe and shine as a result.

The track feels fresh from the band’s approach and I think if they produced it in their expected metalcore sound, the song would just sound like every other uninspired core band song out there. Referring back to the metal cover of this song that I listened to, I hated how the cover completely threw away the vocal melody and replaced it with generic plain screams instead which honestly didn’t match the guitars. The vocals on the cover felt like it was just slapped on top of the music without taking into consideration how important a fluctuating melody was needed to make this song sound interesting due to it’s short lyrics and very simple phrasing.

Compared lyrically to other BMTH songs, I think this track falls a bit short by having repetitive verses. For some though, especially audiences who don’t really care about lyrics, just the mere production of this track will be enough for it to be a satisfying listen.

Overall, the song is catchy and if BMTH continues stepping forward into pop territory, I hope they use this song as their benchmark.

SUGAR HONEY ICE & TEA

Another heavier song on the album, Sugar Honey Ice & Tea is a track that feels closer to That’s The Spirit’s simple rock and roll riffs over Sempiternal’s more complex “-core” riffs.

Fans that prefer a more “rock band” sound, will like this since electronic elements are pretty sparse in this track. Oli has less processed vocals and even does some yells in it. It does have a weird falsetto part in it’s chorus though which might not suit to everyone’s taste.

The lyrics are pretty clever and despite having a pretty “in your face” riff supporting it from behind, it’s sung in a very poppy melody. Like Wonderful Life, the song sounds heavy but bright and upbeat. The song presents how everyone is full of Sugar Honey Ice & Tea in a lighter manner than how most bands would probably present it.

WHY YOU GOTTA KICK ME WHEN IM DOWN?

This song is another song that will surprise listeners over how different it is from what’s expected of BMTH. With a hip-hop beat and rap-like melody, this song is definitely an urban track. I honestly don’t know how to review this track. It’s not a bad song, I guess I’m just confused over it.

It has a nice booming chorus though and I think it’s a great representation of how the band literally gives no flying fucks over people’s expectations and they will do whatever the fuck they want. I also appreciate of how unafraid the band is regarding experimenting with new sounds.

FRESH BRUISES

This is another interlude song. Like Ouch, it’s a very electronic-driven track. Unlike Ouch though which is too short, this track feels too long as it fails to grab one’s attention due to it’s repetitiveness that makes the song tedious to listen to after a while.

MOTHER TONGUE

The song gives a similar musical vibe to Medicine. The main difference is that this song is definitely a sweet love song in contrast to Medicine’s bitter angst. This song makes one appreciate again the fact that the band went softer for this album because the production sounds so spot on. I think they will have a hard time producing this kind of fragile vibe if they produced this track the way they did songs in their heavier albums.

Mother Tongue sounds delicate which feels just right along with the lyrics. The song starts to pick up as it enters another anthemic chorus. This is definitely a song to sing your heart out to during a roadtrip with the windows down.

HEAVY METAL

BMTH being known to be sarcastic blokes made me expect that this song will definitely NOT be heavy metal. I was correct. Basically the song is a song with hip-hop verses with a heavy rock chorus. Just like with Why You Gotta Kick Me When I’m Down, I also don’t really know how to review this track properly and fairly.

One thing to appreciate about this track is again, Oli’s direct and straightforward lyrics as the band address the fans who could not get out of the band’s heavier eras and refuses to acknowledge that the band has to grow out of it’s core roots eventually.

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO SAY

The opening strings of this song already makes the listener expect some epic shit to go down. However, the band overturns that by having an acoustic guitar come in with Oli as he starts singing the first verse. This tuned down approach continues up until the end of the 3rd verse in which the string section comes in again with more power as the song transitions into it’s roaring interlude. Things calm down again as the band enters the 4th verse. More electronic elements slowly fill up the space to create a richer soundscape.

Lyrically, this song can easily be put with Sempiternal or There Is A Hell. Perhaps the best written song in the album, Oli outpours his fear over the impending loss of his friend with lyrics as raw as it can be.

I personally think the band could have made the last chorus or outro more powerful and roaring to make it feel like a proper album closer. However, with a great mix of orchestral parts and distorted guitars this song is still a good final track for this album.

As Oli sings about his anxieties over an expected death of a friend, the song displays the ending, both as an album and as a metaphor over our own finality as human beings.

Final thoughts:

The album is a good listen for anyone who’s unafraid to welcome experimentation from this band. Sykes and Fish shine in this album as producers and singers respectively.

With catchy hooks and riffs, this album will be memorable to anyone who enjoys pop music on the aggressive side of the spectrum.

Songs to listen to:
Heavy songs = Wonderful Life, Sugar Honey Ice Tea,
Soft songs = Mother Tongue, Medicine

Least liked songs: Nihilistic Blues, Why You Gotta Kick Me When I’m Down

Lyrics: 7
Musicality: 7.5
Production: 9

OVERALL RATING: 7.8