Album Review: Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal

Considering the dramas surrounding the band only a few months ago, it's surprising that the fourth record from British metalcore royalty Bring Me The Horizon sounds nothing if not unified. The grander and more atmospheric tones of their previous number one record, There Is A Hell, Believe Me, I've Seen It, There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret (2010), have been chased further, a fact tied in with the departure of Australian Jona Weinhofen (I Killed The Prom Queen), the guitarist replaced by keyboardist and programming man, Jordan Fish. The results reveal a band entering a new chapter of their career, challenging their fans with progression without alienating them in the process.

Producer Terry Date (Deftones, Pantera, Soundgarden) has given Sempiternal the Wall Of Sound treatment, with every song feeling absolutely rammed with energy and muscle. But BMTH's expected aggression is balanced by an impressive grasp on pop ideals. Tracks like Can You Feel My Heart and Sleepwalking are some of the most accessible moments the Sheffield five have ever given us. Electronic splashes are used sparingly but really smart, pinning sonic emotion underneath the clearer-than-ever verses of frontman Oli Sykes, while the individual guitar and drum parts sound wild but never messy or claustrophobic, standing solidly on their own merits but amounting to so much more when corralled together.

Formulated lyrics scattered about such as “Middle fingers up/If you don't give a fuck” (Antivist) might come off a bit cheesy, and yes, it does veer into Linkin Park territory more than once, but fuck is Sempiternal ever catchy. A true beast of a release, and one that's equally venomous and fun.