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thats-the-teen-spirit · 11 days

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Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: NeX GEn album review

Well I didn't expect to write a full BMTH album review today but here we go. The band officially blueballed their audience to the point that as soon as they passed the longest streak without releasing an album, they surprise-dropped it completely unexpectedly. Just a heads-up, I'm not familiar to the lore of the album, what the Nex Gen is or whatever but still, here's my review:

[ost] dreamseeker

This is the shortest and most basic noise intro they've done I think for a while, it's just sounds of steps and the fade in to the first track

2. YOUtopia

Way before the album was announced, back during the Survivor Horror album cycle Oli said something along the way that the Post Human series wants to explore each of their favorite and most played genres, one of which was "emo" as he said. Emo in a sense that MCR or Underoath was emo, not the old-school way. YOUtopia has definitely the MCR feeling to it, not as much as LosT has though but that is not the point. This song has a bouncy riff, catchy chorus (similar style to Werewolf, the song the guys did with Lil Uzi Vert on his latest album) and the most 'amo' feel outside of the singles for me. Great song, definitely will be played during concerts.

3. Kool-Aid

The last single before they dropped the album, possibly the most balanced song out of the singles. Very catchy chorus, even the first few seconds feel like the "you're gonna die in the pit" fright that I usually feel at concerts. The breakdown is crazy, it has a very death metal guitar solo, what more do you want?

4. Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd

When I first read the title I thought this would be the most emo song on the album. I was not wrong. The style of 80% of the song is pure pop punk. There's the old school blink-182-like riff, the chorus sounds like it's from a 00's teen movie. Sometimes in the song there are cheeky blastbeat parts which I adored with Super Mario coin sounds that were hilarious. Oh and there's the Poliphia-bridge that made me smile. This is gonna be a top song on the album for sure for me. It's just so unapologetically fun, it's crazy.

5. liMOusIne (feat. AURORA)

The most out of place song for me, it doesn't even feel like BMTH. It sounds like they hopped on the Deftones-core hype train with the 8 or 9 string low tuned guitar riff that is more Sleep Token than BMTH. Still it's a banger, the bridge by AURORA is really catchy as well. The outro of the song is probably my favorite of theirs outside of One Day the Only Butterflies... on the previous album.

6. DArkSide

DArkSide was the fifth single, and in my opinion the most basic bitch one. It just sounds like they wanted to rip off Linkin Park's Somewhere I Belong again, this of course doesn't mean that the song is bad. In fact it grew on me a lot since it got released. The lyrics are very edgy which is expected from a BMTH song but this song was also a bit too cheesy for me, it definitely goes for the safe radio play option that the band still needs to be as popular as they are.

7. a bulleT w- my namE On (feat. Underoath)

If you read this review carefully you might have noticed that I namedropped Underoath earlier. Well, they are featured on the album. This one literally feels like an old-school Underoath song but with Oli's vocals and the modern hyperpop spin that they do through the whole album. At some point Spencer's vocals felt like they were originally be Jordan's which kinda broke my heart a bit, since the Oli+Jordan duo were my favorite songwriters in the scene. If you're a fan of Underoath you should definitely give this one a spin.

8. [ost] (spi)ritual

Intro=Dark Signs by Sleep Token, Lyrics=Fully Satanic, title=clever wordplay. It's a 2 minute long interlude that has some guitars in it so most fans will not be disappointed in it, the biblical references are there for the edge of it but are barely audible, if you're one of those fans who recently got offended by their latest marketing ploy (the Jesus one), then I'd suggest skip this one. Also it's BMTH, they have always been against religion in general so... don't be surprised.

9. n/A

This song broke me. The first two lines are: "Hi, My name is Oli and I'm an addict. I'm here cause I'm not quite all there". The guitar work is very simple in the beginning, reminiscent of Where is My Mind by the Pixies, but you can sense that something big is coming. This is the most personal song on the album, I haven't heard Oli open up this much about suicidal thoughts and addiction since Sempiternal. It also has a grotesque feel to it as he discribes how he would kill himself in various ways (jumping down a building, making love to a chainsaw, etc). This one is also pretty emo, but not just because of the lyrics, by the sound as well. Definitely will be landing on my playlist.

10. LoSt

Undoubtedly my favorite song on the album, i've been constantly listening to it since it came out last year. If there is a thing called "I'm not Okay"-core this is it. The breakdown is the funnest one through the whole discography of the band, the chorus is a clone of the aformentioned MCR song and the pacing feels like a pop punk banger with an easycore breakdown. Still 10/10 for me.

11. sTraNgeRs

It's kinda crazy to think about how much time passed between each single and the album itself. This song will always remind me to coming home from my ex-girlfriend whom I've completely alienated from at that point and humming to myself: We're just a room full of strangers. I know that the original meaning of the song is quite the oposite, it has a sense of unity and togetherness but still, my personal story overwrote this one for me and I cannot help it. This was the second single and in my opinion didn't age as well as the others but still a very good song.

12. Rip (duskCOre RemIx)

Some segments of the lyrics of this song can be found throughout the teasers BMTH put out in the past few years. This one is a purely hyperpop/heavy pop banger that is very common towards the end of the record. The pacing is again very pop punk and emo, but it has those glitchy effects and even a dance beat at some point. It's a fun one but the poppiest out of the whole record I think. Oh and there's a woah-woah post-chorus which is again, very pop punk. Also despite the sound is very happy and hyper the lyrics are very self-loathing and depict the disappointment Oli had with himself after relapsing during COVID. Just a not so fun fact.

13. AmEN! (feat, Lil Uzi Vert and Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw)

The heaviest song on the album that was premiered live in my home country last year. I'm really disappointed I missed that and am still salty about it. Anyway this song is the same as Darkside for me, it's not a bad one, in fact, the old school BMTH fans will like this one the most, but for me it's not as exciting. I'd rather listen to the random bullshit they come up with than Oli trying to replicate Suicide Season style vocals which tore his throat up back then. But back to the song, it also grew a lot on me, the choir breakdown will always be fun and the lyrics have very much the Hospital of Souls kind of feel and edginess.

14. [ost] puss-e

Speaking of randomness, this one is about the female genitalia. it's an interlude (as every song beginning with [ost]). I think it's the biggest brain fart they had since the Music to Listen to... EP dropped. The callout before the breakbeat is literally: What would you do for pussy?. It's a random noisy shitshow that people will be mad about just like they were during the amo era but this is still unfathomably BMTH at their finest.

15. DiE4u

It's crazy to think about but this song came out almost 3 years ago, back when Survivor Horror had its album cycle and people were still mostly locked up in quarantine. The lyrics are about addiction again, not surprisingly and were inspired by Oli's relapse that I mentioned earlier. During COVID he made some very bad choices that lead him to get on ketamine for the first time since I think 2013 or so. This song is basically him singing to the drugs, it's a little fucked isn't it? It definitely didn't hold up as well as LoSt or AmEN because back in 2021 Oli was still trying to spread the idea he had about making a new genre called heavy pop. Well, some of his ideas are on the album so I guess he was successful.

16. Dig it

The closing track of this massive album and again we're back to the topic of self-hatred. Oli is again very disappointed in himself to a melody that is similar to Something in the Way by Nirvana. Maybe that was an inspiration, since that song also screams self-loathing. Then there's the modern pop drumbeat, but still the instrumentals are very lowkey, it's clear that the intention is to focus on the lyrics. The closure of the track gets heavy as usual and we hear Count Your Blessings era vocals again. There is even a little snippet at the very end after a little silence, that the AI playing the album failed which means the album is over.

Overall it's a great album, I think Oli and the band ended up with a terrific record, however I still miss Jordan's work on some of the songs. Maybe some ideas were scrapped, maybe even reworked at certain points but I'll always miss his handprint from now on I think. All of the fanbase will be happy with this record I guarantee it.

#bmth #post human: nex gen #post human #nex gen #next gen #bring me the horizon #oli sykes #lee maila #metalcore #album review #review #new album

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nematanthus · 3 days

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First Impression: POST HUMAN: NeX GEn- Bring Me The Horizon

In special collaboration with @arfarfblegh

Guide:

Interlude

Favorite so far

Least favorite so far

Single

Tracklist:

[ost] dreamseeker

YOUtopia

Kool-Aid

Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd

liMOusIne (feat. AURORA)

DArkSide

a bulleT w/ my namE On (feat. Underoath)

[ost] (spi)ritual

n/A

LosT

sTraNgeRs

R.i.p. (duskCOre RemIx)

AmEN! (feat. Lil Uzi Vert and Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw)

[ost] p.u.s.s.-e

DiE4u

DIg It

First Thoughts:

With the surprise release of POST HUMAN: NeX GEn, Bring Me The Horizon is once again, here to change their sound, have fun, and make purists mad. Each song seems to bleed into the next without losing its sense of identity, near seamless transitions between tracks that have wildly varying vibes and sounds makes for quite the musical feat. Lead vocalist Oli Sykes seems to have grown incredibly comfortable with his singing voice, doing some vocal gymnastics on this album, from high notes we've never heard from him to the screams we are all familiar with. His vocals are also played with in editing, something we've seen from the band before but not to this extent, dipping into hyperpop territory, especially with "LosT" and "R.i.p. (duskCOre RemIx)". The vocal work blending with the glitchy instrumentals that truly delivers on the "POST HUMAN" vibe.

#music #nematanthus music #music opinions #album review #post human: nex gen #artist spotlight #bring me the horizon #bmth #hyperpop #post hardcore #emo #metal

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deadcactuswalking · 3 days

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 01/06/2024 (Central Cee & Lil Baby, Bring Me the Horizon's POST HUMAN: NEX GEN, Zach Bryan)

Sabrina Carpenter’s still dominant on the UK Singles Chart as “Espresso” spends a fifth week at the top - welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, discussions of death, trauma, drug addiction

Rundown

As always, we start with our notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 - which is what I cover - after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adios to Eurovision tracks like “Europapa” by Joost and “The Code” by Nemo, as well as “Family Matters” by Drake (telling that these three couldn’t make five weeks), “Outside of Love” by Becky Hill, “Jump” by Tyla, Gunna and Skilibeng, “Home” by Good Neighbours (Good riddance) and finally, “Back to Black” by the late Amy Winehouse.

We see one big return with Katy Perry’s catalogue streams rising thanks to some American Idol news or something - I don’t care, I imagine the catalogue sales for her biggest records are high enough anyway. This does mean “Teenage Dream” - the title track - is back at #72. It peaked and debuted at #2 for two weeks in 2010, being blocked by Olly Murs’ “Please Don’t Let Me Go” and Alexandra Burke’s “Start Without You” respectively, though I think we can agree which one of these three have actually managed to pass the test of time. To be thorough, the Glee cover peaked at #36 the next year. As for our gains, we have a small but notable batch of boosts for “Never Lose Me” by Flo Milli at #61, “Right Here” by Becky Hill at #60, “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat at #55, “Miles on It” by Kane Brown and Marshmello at #47, “The Man Who Can’t be Moved” by The Script at #38, “The Door” by Teddy Swims at #35 and finally, all the way up in the top 10 for the first time, Myles Smith with “Stargazing” at #9.

The UK Singles Chart’s top five this week consists of Billie Eilish’s “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” spiking off of the debut up to #5, whilst Central Cee and Lil Baby debut right at #4 with their new track “BAND4BAND”. Following them up is the top three staying the same as last week’s: Shaboozey at #3 with “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”, Eilish again with “LUNCH” at #2 and of course, “Espresso” at #1. Now for what ended up debuting in the lower realms of the chart this week.

New Entries

#73 - “Fall Back” - Lithe

Produced by Lithe

Do I pronounce this “life” or “live”? It doesn’t matter, this is a blog. However you pronounce it, Lithe is from Melbourne and this is his viral breakout hit for an otherwise underground artist who seems to have produced and released this all by himself. This may explain why it’s garbage. Lithe strikes me as the kind of person who would make for a great additional vocalist on a maximalist project by, say, a Travis Scott type, because his vocals, which are very Travis as well, lure you into a mumbling Auto-Tuned atmosphere very effortlessly due to the layering of murmured ad-libs. The problem here is the utter shit production, consisting of rote trap presets in such a static and typical pattern that it almost stands out how frozen and dull trap beats can be because of one weird snare choice that sounds way too loud and mechanical. I know this is very nit-picky but there’s so little to this song, which relies entirely on Lithe for its melodic element considering the blank grey synths that practically could be completely absent under the looming trap dirge. Don’t ask about the lyrics, it’s bottom-of-the-barrel flexing, but at least this song is very uniquely terrible. It uses basic trap tropes, for sure, but Lithe is taking his own approach to things and creates a bad song that is bad in ways more established artists probably couldn’t pull off. That’s a compliment, genuinely.

#66 - “The Craving” - Twenty One Pilots

Produced by Tyler Joseph and Paul Meany

I think it’s somewhat telling that Bring Me the Horizon nabbed three debuts this week, but the usually more accessible Twenty One Pilots, with a higher-peaking album at #2, could only snatch one at #66. I usually care at least a little to check out these guys’ records but the lore aspect has always somewhat bothered me in that I know without fully emerging into it, I’ll never get the full intended effect and relationship with the music that they intend. This week’s effort, Clancy, was one I just straight-up didn’t bother listening to, especially on the grounds of not liking those singles at all. I was thinking that hopefully this could give me some reason to check it out, and, well, there is something to this one.

“The Craving” is available in two versions, with the version on the album being subtitled “(Jenna’s Version)”, referring to his wife Jenna and… yeah, the stripped-back, ukulele rendition on the record is pretty devastating. Starting with a static that obscures Jenna’s voice lamenting the fact their relationship may be deteroriating or stalling out as she grows older, the song is a ballad expressing Tyler’s inability to communicate and express the simple gestures that he loves her. It’s a pretty simple song compositionally but that makes complete sense as it feels like a song he can only sing improvisationally in her presence, but not with her listening. This may be a stretch, but I’m imagining “(Jenna’s version)” refers here not to dedicating the song and playing it to her but her being the muse for this version, which sounds like it could have been written very quickly in a night where he can’t fall asleep thinking about the subject matter whilst she’s fast asleep. The song explains that he can’t communicate this to her, and the visual it gives is Tyler playing the song quietly to himself as to not wake her up but knowing fully that he won’t be able to sleep for the rest of the night without it being expressed. The final chorus ends with an utmost declaration of his dedication to the marriage, complete with a voice crack, but that outro simply writes it off: once she’s awake, the promises mean nothing, and he can’t bring himself to all he promised: the simple act of reminding her that she’s loved. I will be 100% honest: this song kind of fucking broke me, and the imagery surrounding those choruses being one of waiting until demise, wherein the “she” who looks for Tyler as he lays down and tries to sleep could be both Jenna and God, made this a very affecting listen for me, or rather, several listens. I never know exactly what to expect from TOP, but I didn’t expect to be crying.

The single remix, co-produced with Spencer Stewart, is much lighter and breezier with its folk-pop production that’s reverbed to Hell and back and covers some of Tyler’s vocal faults with harmonies and whistling that makes it a bit too saccharine for my taste. I still think it’s a brilliant song but as a performance and production, not so much, and this puts me in a weird position because as far as OCC is concerned, these are both the charting song, I just happen to prefer the very slightly less streamed acoustic version a lot more. Personally, I think adding drums to “The Craving” may be an inspired touch because it takes that fear of death and adds a frolicking carpe diem feel to it but it also touches my soul a bit less by detaching Tyler further from reality: the problem isn’t that he’s separated from his wife, it’s nearly the opposite, with her continued presence acting as both why the song exists and why the emotion is so palpable. Regardless, if more of the album is this personal and honest, less lore-focused as the lead single really scared me off with, maybe I’ll find more to like on it because this acoustic version is genuinely shattering, might be their best song ever.

#57 - “LiMOusIne” - Bring Me the Horizon featuring AURORA

Produced by Zakk Cervini, Oli Sykes and Dan Lancaster

Another week, another album debuting three songs that I haven’t heard. I’ll be fair and say I probably should have listened to Billie’s record before the chart week, and I have since heard and greatly enjoyed her album, but for this one, can you blame me? Firstly, look at the way the tracks are stylised, secondly: whilst I did like the first edition of this POST HUMAN series from 2020, the incessant delay and consistent flow of really mediocre singles that leads to an album that seems a bit bloated compared to the last one’s conciseness because I guess all of them needed to be included. Thirdly, they lost their keyboardist Jordan Fish, also a major songwriting contributor to the band, who now has just a few more lyrical credits on this record than BloodPop, I’m genuinely quite weary that this’ll be another disappointing mess from Bring Me the Horizon. Regardless, I’ll give them this: they always experiment, and these three next songs are going to be interesting and weird, at least in comparison to what usually charts, so it’s good we have them all lined up consecutively. BMTH’s latest, POST HUMAN: NEX GEN, debuted at #5 on the albums chart and naturally, we have three debuts as that’s all OCC’ll allow.

The first to chart, “Limousine” (I’m not doing this, guys) features Norwegian singer AURORA, who had some viral success with “Runaway” a few years back, a song I never really liked and I honestly haven’t heard much else, so maybe I’m missing something by not checking her out - I’m definitely going to be missing something with these songs given the added context of understanding the album’s theme and narrative is pretty important for what seems like a loose concept album, though BMTH records can be so eclectic that it flies out of the window. See amo for a clear demonstration. This particular track takes us into the easy and quick blast frontman Oli Sykes gets from doing hard drugs and the power, authority he feels when he’s off them, hence the “Limousine” - it’s a luxury car you’re in the back of, drugged and being driven around, but you still feel in control. It does this through grinding metal riffs and some of the most strained vocals I’ve heard from Sykes, not in the sense that he hits any insane notes or belts but more so because he stretches out these melodies beyond their need, especially in the pre-chorus, with pitch correction not doing that great of a job to cover it. That sounds like an insult, but it’s really not: when he’s refuting the need for closure and the chorus starts with a stuttered glitching of the song’s last section out of existence, his slow luxury chauffer ride to death feels particularly potent and fittingly gruelling. There’s a seductive and sinister nature to some of the lyrics, AURORA kind of blends into the background which is perfect for this as Sykes’ streams drowning out the clearer, beautiful voice of reason is thematically perfect, that bridge with the keyboards is genuinely moving before everything crashes into shit in the screeching breakdown. That breakdown, however, demonstrates the one time this song succeeds in the mixing department for me, as there’s a muddiness to everything here and an unnecessary vocal focus that seems to push the heavier and cathartic elements back, which does not serve a track like this very well, when the progression into chaos should come from something that is genuinely unnerving and inescapable. A more immersive mix could have done wonders to what is structurally a very sound track that has great performances.

#50 - “YOUtopia” - Bring Me the Horizon

Produced by Zakk Cervini, Oli Sykes, Dan Lancaster and Lee Malia

We can actually split this episode quite nicely into the two songs below the Horizon, the two songs above them, and the Horizon itself. It works out quite nicely too because according to Sykes, “Youtopia” acts as a counterpart to “Limousine”, and I can definitely tell that from the lyrics, wherein Sykes begs for the ability to give his partner the best version of himself, a “youtopia” so to speak. He desperately wants to connect himself and his partner to that utopian setting, but can’t bring himself to do the self-improvement that would enable that kind of perfect relationship, one that you can kind of tell from the imagery either doesn’t exist or has been buried so far deep into obscurity by the constant perpetuance of negativity in everyday life. To be completely honest, I was worried that Bring Me the Horizon’s lyrics would turn as basic as some of the structural songwriting had been on the singles so I’m glad I can still both get a lot out of analysis and resonate pretty heavily with their notions, it’s the most frustrating feeling wanting to be something that no-one but your own insecurity expects you to live up to, so it just seems fruitless to achieve.

As for how it sounds, well, that basic songwriting is there for sure, but oh, my God, this is an insanely nostalgic sound for me. That late-2000s early-2010s Kerrang! TV post-hardcore sound combining fuzzy electronics with the lackadaisical guitars of 2000s emo-pop and often Auto-Tuned vocals - both the clean and unclean vocals, sometimes - as well as just killer hooks and chasm-esque mixing that makes the drums go so hard once they pound into full relentless chorus mode. Of course, BMTH take it into further electronicore territory with the sampled-sounding female vocals, tiny little vocalised riff in the first verse that’s an adorable touch, the birdsong passages of ambiance that mesh so well with the cleaner guitar build, and the hip hop drums in the second verse that actually go for a 2000s R&B groove instead of the typical trap skitter, which I commend them for doing - trap metal feels way too easy and wouldn’t have fit a longing song like this. The harmonies from Sykes and the filtered Dan Lancaster in the bridge are excellent, and whilst the guitar solo is in what I like to call Weezer-meter (very obviously and shamelessly just repeating the chorus lead melody), it’s oddly brief and inessential to the song, as the final post-chorus kind of takes its place with the string swell and incredible drumming from Matt Nicholls that winds down in an industrial squirt for the outro. Apart from once again some mixing that acts as a disservice - when there’s this much going on, I understand the difficulty in making it sound that dynamic, and thematically, sometimes it just wouldn’t make sense to - this is pretty much something I’d inject to my veins any day. I know I say this every time BMTH show up because they’re the country’s biggest left-field rock act currently, but something like this charting in the top 50 in 2024 never fails to put at least a smile on my face.

#41 - “Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd” - Bring Me the Horizon

Produced by Zakk Cervini, Oli Sykes and Dan Lancaster

This final song is titled like a WatchMojo video, and is a very clear single - the lyrics and songwriting are pretty basic woes, wound up in generic metaphors that Sykes and the lads have sung before. It’s got a pessimistic chorus and a vaguely motivational bridge, and so many lyrics that vaguely allude to prior singles that I can’t tell if these are purposeful references or they’re just that far into their careers that their attempt at being an “average” BMTH track is an amalgamation of all of their other obvious singles. Those lyrical allusions definitely make it a bit more obvious and distracting that this is the case, but musically, it’s in similar territory. They have a brief, cutesy electronic intro, this time slightly hyperpop-esque, before crashing into a catchy alt-metal riff and, yeah, it’s just obvious that this is pulling the tricks of their own trade in a very typical way. Sykes performs incredibly well as he pretty much always does, you can’t take away his passion, but the screaming and sound effects may be a bit much in that second verse. They even have a stop-and-start rhythm built into the chorus melody which feels very Bring Me the Horizon to do: stopping and starting is basically their motif and songwriting approach if we boil it down to borderline offensive essentials. They have an aggressive breakdown with rapid drumming and video game samples, a trap drum pattern in the final pre-chorus, a stuttered vocal, it’s all very by-the-numbers and that’s fine. We can’t all be zingers, sometimes we need to write something accessible and given the album is assumingly a mess (all BMTH albums kind of are, it’s by nature), something like this could be particularly refreshing within its context, and they did care enough to place an atmospheric ambient outro that may contextualise it even further. This is a perfectly cromulent Bring Me the Horizon song, but a bit underwhelming to end on here.

#31 - “Pink Skies” - Zach Bryan

Produced by Zach Bryan

Country star Zach Bryan is back, presumably, he’s got a 30-song album on the way and this is his lead single. As always with Mr. Bryan, it feels wise to discuss the lyrics here in some detail, as this paints a vivid picture of the life that a mother has left for her children at the time of her funeral. The kids who came from that small town are back there to celebrate their late mother’s life, and reflecting on those lessons they learned from the mundane outskirts: appreciating the “pink skies” as a sign of youthful vitality and peace and cleaning the old house as if it were never populated (which feels stereotypical but is very much true for how parents can behave), though with the caveat that those memories remain physically as what appear to be faults in the house but are unavoidable reminders of the life lived within it. The second verse and especially the chorus sing a pretty funny ode: she’d be proud of where her kids are but would still lightheartedly mock them as “yuppies”, and he even has the snark to comment that God probably heard her coming, which I assume she means that she never shut up. For a parent, that’s a great thing to have the ability to do, and it’s reassuring to think that in the afterlife, she still cares too much about her kids’ well-being. This hits particularly close to home for me, and the fact that this song makes great use of my favourite instrument, the harmonica, does not exactly help this from not being a bit of a personal tearjerker for me. Bryan’s smoky drawl comes with his typical homegrown organic instrumentation - though with a higher focus both lyrically and instrumentally on choppier rhythm which I find interesting - and the light female vocals panned into the left channel. Sonically, you could argue it’s a bit safe or easy for Bryan to come out with something that sounds like this, but think of the content: why shouldn’t he be back at home, and invite you into that warm, comforting place as openly as his mother would have? This guy already put out some of my favourite songs of last year, some of the art that emotionally resonated with me the most from that year, and it doesn’t seem like he’s stopping this year either. I adore this.

#4 - “BAND4BAND” - Central Cee and Lil Baby

Produced by Ghana Beats, Geenero and Aasis Beats

This is just such a neat week. We begin near the very bottom with pop-trap from the Anglosphere outside of the US and book-end it near the very top with a UK rapper, whilst sandwiched in the middle are rock and alternative acts, two of which are personal ballads by slightly more mainstream and lighter in sound, closer to more accessible genres they emerged from before developing their sound, and both on either side of three Bring Me the Horizon tracks from the same album. Thiss week just makes sense systematically, damn it, and I love to see it. Also, Central Cee and Lil Baby, I guess, the song’s fine. It’s a bit undercooked because - I repeat, Central Cee and Lil Baby - but the basic rising synth loop, even if very obviously just a basic and lazy implementation of a loop, has enough tension to make way for the heavy-hitting drill rhythm, which is a lot cleaner than some other drill tracks, but also uses much louder, mechanical hats - again, something it has in common with Lithe, and the grey cover arts are just furthering it all - that give an industrial and intense feel to this beat. As for our rappers, this is much more typical: Cench’s complaining about people not being real Muslims, talking about his Lambos, using rhyme schemes that prominently implement acronyms, being distracted by big booties and most importantly, going “Alllright”. It’s almost like “Top 10 Statues that Cried Blood” because Cench feels like an amalgamation of himself on here, though this isn’t a bad thing, he still has more energy than many other rappers and it was cute for him to exchange bars with Lil Baby. Lil Baby then continues to take the song over entirely, as the beat switches up slightly with that crawling trap skitter and Baby goes for his typical frog-throat, running-off-on-the-beat flow that goes insanely hard, bizarrely, without drums, as it builds into a very well-done beat drop. He’s similarly being an amalgamation of himself and his running themes, but there’s some cold wordplay with the birthday lyric and there’s always been something compelling about his relentless approach to just going on and on regardless of what the beat actually asks of him. Overall, I know I’ve sounded nit-picky but this is good, probably great even when taking it outside of the larger context and just treating it as a banger reaching across the Atlantic. There’s a real intensity and hunger to this that there hasn’t been for either in these guys in a while, and it’s refreshing to know that those efforts paid off for a very high and very deserved top five debut.

Conclusion

Considering this is a week mostly consisting of rock acts, it makes complete sense that it’s one of the best weeks for me. Hey, I listen to everything, but some genres will hit closer to home than others. As for the Best of the Week, it is genuinely an incredibly difficult decision, but unsurprisingly, Zach Bryan takes it for “Pink Skies” and the only reason that happened is because of the second single edit of “The Craving” by Twenty One Pilots that I do not care for, because Jenna’s version would run away with Best of the Week, it’s heartbreaking from the first vocal sample of Jenna herself to that final line. Unfortunately, due to the double billing, it’ll have to take Honourable Mention, and on any other week, I would easily be giving all of this praise to a song like “YOUtopia”, which I still love, or Hell, even “BAND4BAND”. Lithe takes Worst of the Week for “Fall Back”, obviously, and I hope the next batch of songs is either just as good as this one or gives me a lot less to talk about because sheesh, this is one of our shorter weeks and I’m still maxxing this word count out. For now, thank you for reading, rest in peace to Charlie Colin, and I’ll see you next week!

#uk singles chart #pop music #song review #bring me the horizon #post human: nex gen #twenty one pilots #zach bryan #lil baby #central cee #band4band #lithe #aurora

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foxreviewsrock · 10 days

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Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: NeX GEn (Album Review)

Check out my review of the new album by Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: NeX GEn !

Bring Me The Horizon just released highly anticipated album, POST HUMAN:NeX GEn! Initially announced as a September 2023 release, the album finally dropped last night (24/05/2024). In the meantime, the band has won a Brit Award, embarked on an arena tour, and parted ways with Jordan Fish. Members Oli Sykes (Vocals), Lee Malia (Guitar), Matt Kean (Bass), and Matt Nicholls (Drums) deliver something…

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#Album #Album Review #Blog #Blogging #Bring Me The Horizon #Glassjaw #Hard Rock #Metal #Music #Music Review #POST HUMAN: NeX GEn #Review #rock #SUM41 #Underoath #Writing

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bigsquirrel18 · 10 days

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Album Review

Bring Me the Horizon-

POST HUMAN:NeX GEn

The wait is finally over! After 4 years of knowing it was coming, Bring Me is finally back, once again reinvigorating metal with a fresh blend of genres and production.

Disclaimer: for the most part, this is a first impressions review. I have listened through its entirety once and have gone back few a few tracks, but regardless, fresh thoughts.

Bring Me the Horizon have always been at the forefront of innovation at metal, ever since at least Sempiternal, they have consistently introduced more and more sounds to create their own sound and help inspire all other bands in the genre.

With Post Human:NeX GEn, the albums title is quite appropriate as we are once again seeing the next generation of sound for the band. This time with a much more hyper pop focused influence, with a classic and modern Emo touch. And this sound is such a clash of nostalgia and progression and it just blends so well.

Now, there are two concessions I will have to give the album, firstly the wait, and secondly the departure of Jordan from the band.

We have known this album was coming ever since Bring Me teased the Post Human series in 2020. Originally a plan for 4 eps across 1-2 years, plans have obviously changed. This I have no problem with. Oli and the rest of the band come across as perfectionists. Preferring to put out a work they can be proud of instead of a half finished work. This is understandable. Now I will say, since they dropped sTraNgeRs all the way back in July 2022(?!?!? That long?) the wait has been agonizing. They have kept the hype up though, slowly dropping a total of 5 singles for the album and, at least personally I can say the hype was properly kept.

Now for the second point, the departure of Jordan Fish. Jordan has become such as staple of the band since his introduction on Sempiternal, that this new era for the band is a little saddened. Jordan helped to reinvigorate the bands sound and made Bring Me the forefront band for metalcores future as a genre. Jordan is still on the credits for all of the singles before his departure, but my gut says he still had a hand in at least a majority of this album. And for this to be his last work with the band, I feel it’s a great send off. Jordan is a legend, and this last bit for Bring Me has solidified that.

Alright, now back to the actual album. The album hits 16 tracks, 3 of which being interludes, and 5 being singles we’ve already heard. Still, 11 brand new tracks to enjoy is a lot more than I expected. With the now popularized waterfall method of dropping half an album before release, it’s always refreshing to see a band leave plenty in store for the albums actual release.

This album has to be the best blend of genres the band has attempted. A great fucking balance of the newer hyper pop sound, plenty of great riffs, solos, and breakdowns, and Oli bouncing between poppy vocals all the way to deathcore screams, just overall a great blend. The sound stays consistently intriguing and helps keep attention.

And just two side notes to that, Bring Mes ability to write huge stadium choruses is just amazing. Almost every song has a great catchy chorus and plenty of, what I predict to be, new tour staples on this record. Second to that, I believe Nik Nocturnal mentioned this in regards to Oli and Sam from Architects, but the freedom to throw screams whenever and not feel stapled to a certain style is great to see in the scene. Oli can turn a hyper pop vibe to a deathcore breakdown in an instant.

Onto the features, this is such a great cast of stars on this record. The Underoath feature on a bullet w- my namE On felt like a match made in heaven for any fellow core kids who love both bands. The Aurora feature was such a great surprise on liMOusine and for her to be on a bit of a heavier track was interesting(especially with how much she added to it). And lastly the one we knew, AmEN! Was such a great blend of artists and comes together as still possibly my favorite track on the album, other than….

The album closer Dig It is fucking perfect. Plenty of atmosphere that helps tie in the story of this album, the track turns into a somber yet epic ending. Putting a staple on this new blend of genres the band has perfected, the way the song progressively gets grander, breaking out into a death/metalcore grandiose breakdown, and the eventual soft and gentle return, this album closer is the bow on the gift of this record.

I could, and may, go on more later, but I’ll leave at this for now. As this is just first impressions, I’m going to give it a

9.5/10

As a little wiggle room for this album to grow even more on me. But gut reaction, this is Bring Me’s best work.

#bring me the horizon #post human #nex gen #metalcore #hyper pop #deathcore #alt metal #album review

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duchess-music · 2 months

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2024 SO FAR

Expect reviews of these albums from this year.

A Lonely Sinner - samlrc

Harbour Century - Eunuchs

TANGK - IDLES

IXxuSmw2HFNWXLUyJFO7xKIT3E7diFUSa86wgFiMI413xtfZga5hClZ/AgdzP33dhpj+0qc1d5sK2jyH5EqK6g== - ✿ 111loggedin // Xxenaa ♡

Where we've been, where we go from here - Friko

Clancy - twenty one pilots

Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT - Taylor Swift

Blue Raspberry - Katy Kirby

COWBOY CARTER - Beyonce

MADRA - NewDad

Girl With No Face - Allie X

The Pilgrim, Their God & The King Of My Decrepit Mountain - Tapir!

plastic death - glass beach

Wall of Eyes - The Smile

Snow as a Metaphor for Death - SENTRIES

ORQUIDEAS - Kali Uchis

the death and birth of an angel - fallingwithscissors

Prelude to Ecstasy - The Last Dinner Party

Saviors - Green Day

Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend

SMILE! :D - Porter Robinson

LANA - SZA

Wild God - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

POST HUMAN: NeX GEn - Bring Me The Horizon

Star Line Gallery - Chance The Rapper

BRAT - Charli XCX

Lasso - Lana Del Rey

#navigation

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arcanestudio108 · 4 months

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Bring Me The Horizon - Kool-Aid Review

Let's get something out of the way.

Yes, I'm aware Jordan is gone, and yes, I know he worked on this songs early stages and yet does not appear on the credits on Kool Aid.

But am I going to talk about “Post Jordan BMTH” throughout this review? FUCK NO.

I have questions, thoughts, and concerns, that I will NOT let take over the discourse of this song, I'll make a retrospective and rant article on it later (but hopefully not too much later). It's not that deep people (and if it turns out it is then I'll actually be worried)

So! Kool-Aid! Which as a brand can't be done with mixed caps like eVeRYthInG ElsE. But we got badass zombie Kool Aid man, so you win some and lose some.

Now we need to get something else out of the way immediately. It's heavy. Like potentially the heaviest shit they've done since Sempiternal or There is a Hell. We need to talk about it because that is also tainting the discourse around the song because the “Amo Bad, Sempiternal & Count Your Blessings Good” camp gets riled up when Bring Me gets heavy nowadays. We gotta combat that shit people. It's heavy, and I wanna say immediately that's not, in any way, a direct reason for why Im about to say that…

This is, HANDS DOWN, tying with Ludens for the best fuckin Post Human single, and is one of their absolute best showings upon first listen ever. And it has almost jack shit to do with it's heavy elements genre or BMTH era comparisons.

My fucking GOD, it's the first new, released in 2024 song I've heard and it probably could remain as my favorite song of 2024 through to the end of the year and beyond that. I do have one concern I'll mention here and expand on in that aforementioned later article I'm writing, but we'll get to that later.

Firstly, I'd like to say that my personal description of the theme of Nex Gen sonically, much like Survival Horror was “Sempiternal but Evolved” is very much “That's the Spirit (especially including Don't Look Down) but Evolved”. Kool-Aid takes that concept and not only runs with it, but also decides to throw the entire BMTH playbook in like they're adding pinches of other Kool-Aid (BMTH album era) flavors in to augment the red Kool Aids classic (That's the Spirit) flavor. Anybody who compares this mainly to anything other than That's The Spirit or maybe Survival Horror is wrong or lying, I'm not taking that back, I don't make the rules I follow them.

The star of this song is honestly that it was able to take the loose thread of the Church of Genxsis cult plot and the whole “Dark Side of Kool -Aid” that's kind of became a thing and wove it into every part of the lyrical content of this song without any of it coming off as cringy or juvenile. The song sound like both corruption and salvation, desperation & hopelessness, manipulation & rebellion. The entire chorus, the verses, every single line of this song is PERFECT. And yes I'm including ‘you should of known” in there. I think that grammatical error interpreted as a Sheffield-ism like examples of the same thing in earlier albums lyrics makes it better than the correct “should’ve” (or should have), it's a creative choice not an error, and you'll probably grow to like it too in time.

That’s what makes the song so powerful in general, but the focal point of the song is obviously the hook and overall chorus. My favorite choruses of Post Human, and BMTH overall, were dethroned the second I finished hearing that chorus in full. That chorus goes so fucking hard, Oli giving what may be simply his best clean singing to date, with a dark and desperate melody that hits the exact emotional beats it's going for. Then let's talk about the verses, which are more surprising in their switchups and flicker between styles even more effortlessly than Kingslayer did, I'd say it does so on par with 1x1 in fact.

Now of course it's heavy second verse, breakdown, and post-chorus near the end are breathtaking, but it's because of their unique and aesthetically interesting and well textured guitar work and the tones the guitar lines are played with, the surprise of hearing them, and just the overall groove and improvement in their quality that didn't exist in their idolized older material. It's that they work equally well with all four vocal tones Oli employs on this track, and work cohesively with the melodic elements to create the intended effect of the song.

Some have questioned whether Oli’s vocals were mixed down on the track, I disagree, and would put forth the theory that in fact the guitars were mixed up, to the levels they would have been at circa Sempiternal/That's The Spirit, so both guitars and vocals exist equally as much instead of vocals at the forefront

As for production: I really like Zakk Cervini’s production in general, he’s credited on multiple of my favorite rock and core genres across the past decade. Given his work with BMTH to date I figure hes probably a best case scenario for production that isn't Jordan, alongside Dan Lancaster. Aside from that personnel wise theres a few things to look at. Firstly theres a writing credit to someone listed as DAIDAI. I looked up their name on genius and came out with a handful of songs they have been credited on (could be relatively new to the industry, however its also worth noting they are credited on AmEN! and DArkSide), I will listen to is credited songs real quick then come back….

Woosh, Im back

So turns out DAIDAI is a member of Japanese metalcore band Paledusk. And as for his credits its the aforementioned last three Nex Gen singles, four Paledusk songs, a Lil Uzi Vert song, and a Shinigami song. I listened through them in the hopes of figuring out exactly what DAIDAI contributed, and… honestly I’m not sure. He at absolute least occasionally has produced the bands songs, and is their guitarist. Listening to the aforementioned tracks I figure he could be responsible for just about any of it. However my money would be that his influence is somewhere in the breakdown or verses, but then again Paledusk has some pretty kickass chorus melodies and hooks, so I genuinely can't say I know where his influence is in the recent BMTH singles.

Lucy Landry is Zakk Cervini’s partner, I found 3 credits on genius, turns out she's done backing vocals on the last 3 Waterparks albums, a couple tracks on Good Charlotte's album Generation Rx, and a Fever 333 song.

Phil Gornell was assistant engineer, his credited discography includes All Time Low, Noah Finnce, Hot Milk, While She Sleeps, a punk goes pop cover by Boston Manor, the Youngblood era live album 5 Seconds of Summer Released, and from BMTH, hes credited as drum engineer on Sempiternal, and assistant engineer on both versions of Ludens.

Julian Gargiulo was credited alongside Cervini as a mixing engineer, hes credited as Assistant Mixing Engineer and Primary Mixing Engineer on Architects most recent single Seeing Red, and DArkSide respectively. His two other two credits of note are as Producer and engineer across 5 different EP’s by a band called Chronologist, and contribution of some Guitar work and Engineering on the As It Is record The Great Depression.

As for what all of this means? Ive heard most of the material that Ive listed alongside those names, and it looks like they've been building this production team up throughout the Post Human era, and I would say its a considerably strong one after hearing Kool-Aid.

Lets give my last thoughts to the outro and another thing people have said was an "omission", I agree with everyone elses assessments on it, its part behind the scenes voice note, part outro & part transition into ToP 10 STatUeS THAT CRiED BLooD. I like that its there and hope it does remain there on the album. As for the apparent "omission" of "Oh Yeah?" I think that the songs more serious, lass meme take on using the Kool-Aid references is actually a GREAT thing, and secondly I think I'd only have wanted it were this a faster paced, Let's Get This Party Started style song.

I give the song a 100, It easily earns it. Okay, I think that's everything …..

👀.

Oh yeah, the thing I'm concerned about that's going to be the third BMTH article I have planned for this month.

Its heaviness is my concern, let me explain.

My concern is this, on one hand you could assume this just means they are trying to make the individual parts of Post Human more cohesive than initially planned. But has anybody else heard the alleged information leaks coming from someone claiming to have an inside source says its 15 tracks long, and all the material that we haven't heard yet was created in the liminal space between Jordan leaving the tour and the official band departure announcement? Combine that with the fact that the heavier songs were originally supposed to be meant for later eps, and that leads to this conundrum: Its an album, it looks like RCA is planning on registering it as such rather than as an EP after all (likely for charting and awards purposes that I personally believe are why Survival Horror was snubbed by the Grammy’s/Recording Academy), its an album that due to its physical release having to be 6 months delayed after its official release in the early summer, won't be followed up by another release until 2025 in all likelihood. Ludens was released in 2019, Post Human could technically be said to celebrate its 5th anniversary as an era by the approximate time of the Nex Gen physical copy release date. Its an album thats now 4 years post its predecessor, in a series of four thats complete release finish line seems to jump farther down the road every time progress is made. I’m worried they are planning to kill off Post Human after Nex Gen drops to skip over it and start just releasing singles like they had planned to at the whole “4 EP’s, 1 year” stage of this era. And I have a whole fucking article in the works about why I think that hopefully wont happen.

But yeah, the song slaps go stream it to make it chart higher cos the band deserves it okay bye

Tyler108x

#metal #metalcore #song review #music #bring me the horizon #kool aid

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dhampiravidi · 10 days

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my review of Bring Me The Horizon's POST HUMAN: NeX GEn...

k so, I didn't know it was released til 15 min ago. also just got the Angry Oli Maid Pics. I have a feeling that I know how this first listen is gonna go, but who knows.

[ost] dreamseeker - no rating

If any of this is Eve from the concerts, I'll have to skip the OSTs, because AI scares me (been giving me nightmares for months now). Anyway, this just seems to be a clip of filler/ambient noise. I'll only give ratings to actual songs (longer than 2 min & w/singing).

2. YOUtopia - 5/10

I keep hoping it'll get better as I listen...it just sounds kinda whiny & maybe it was a Jordan Fish thing, but there's no build really. Of course, the name of the song is a pun...IDK. Song sounds a lot more hopeful than I thought it would, since I thought POST HUMAN was all apocalyptic/post-. Giving this a 5.

3. Kool-Aid - 8/10

Pretty sure they already released all the good stuff. I remember hating how "heavy" this sounded initially, but I love this song now. It's an anthem for...something. I guess it's a warning tale for cults, hence why I thought this was an "end-of-the-world" type thing. Solid 8.

4. Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd - 6/10

IDK why I just thought of FOB's Under the Cork Tree. Probably because I'm getting a pop-punk sound (apart from the fairy techno) that's either UtCT or maybe a lighter That's The Spirit (specifically, "Avalanche"). The sound definitely matches that of "LoST". I keep asking myself if BMTH's songs usually repeat the same parts musically & lyrically...I don't remember. If they do, I didn't notice.

5. liMOusine (ft. AURORA) - 6/10

Optimistic about this one! As long as it picks up...I like the guest singer's voice! It's beautiful on it's own & it complements Oli's pretty well. I'm thinking there should be (based on what BMTH usually does in its collaborations & what I think would go well) a section where he screams while she sings...ah, here we go. I guess I was thinking about what happens in AmEN. Hmm...I suppose they wanted a slower song.

6. DArkSide - 10/10

RAHHHH! I love this song sm. Again, I think all that we heard before today is probably the best parts of PH: NG. This is my favorite BMTH song (the last one Jordan worked on, I think). Pretty sure we've all heard the comparisons to Linkin Park for this one 😊. I love how it ebbs & flows but ultimately is a complete song, one that sounds great onstage, makes me dance, has a message & uses all of Oli's range.

7. a bulleT w/ my namE On (ft. Underoath) - 7.5/10

Immediate mixed feelings here. I love the part where the guitar & drums kick in. It always takes me a second listen to get used to the parts where Oli screams because I don't always expect them. I don't like when they edit his vocals to sound super-techno because then it's almost like implying he can't sing without autotune. OMG I can hear Jordan in the background...then I hear "guess this is goodbye" RIP, man. Have we ever had a song where he clearly sings backing (w/o muffling)? Oh, well. ANYWAY. This song fits the BMTH style, I think. IDK what it's saying at the end--I'm never a fan of editing in stuff that can't be understood unless it's a rhythmic thing.

8. [ost] (spi)ritual - 7.5/10

Best of the OSTs so far. It's a chill lil bop. *looks up the lyrics* oh sHIT. I had to pause it because apparently it's an occult ritual used to clear the room of negative energy prior to doing another ritual & um...I'm no expert in this stuff, so I'm just gonna skip to the next song!

9. n/A - 8/10

OK initially I thought this was a bad joke of a song, given Oli's past addictions & time in a mental hospital. It's actually a good song musically & lyrically. I just feel really awkward listening to it. I think it's referring to how he relapsed during COVID...the music video part of Spotify shows a demented kid's picture...

10. LosT - 9/10

Again, we got the good part. I think we all know the message behind this, which I respect considering how many meds I've gone through trying to improve my own mental health. I have thoughts (positive) about the music video, but this isn't a music video post-! "LoST" has the ebb & flow that I love. "Too much to take, I can't fucking stand it" & "I think I'm gonna break down" are my favorite parts. I can only love screaming when it's done to emphasize clean singing &/or the melody.

11. sTraNgeRs - 8/10

All I'll say is...I prefer this version to the acoustic & my favorite part is "take us back to yesterday" (that whole thing before the last chorus).

12. R.i.p. (duskCOre Remix) - 9/10

This is the first new song that I actually like. I love the "club" songs that BMTH makes, where they sound happy but the lyrics are metal as hell. The "make me the villain if you want" *side-eyes The Darkling* I feel like that man has heard a BMTH song.

13. AmEN (ft. Lil Uzi Vert & Daryl Palumbo) - 10/10

I'm not familiar w/Daryl Palumbo, so I'm not sure what part he sings/screams, but I love this song. It's almost like a dramatic monologue, in the way that I can imagine someone doing all these over-the-top gestures as they sing each part of the song (maybe using puppets). I know I'm mouthing the words every time the song comes on (even though I still don't know the screamed part at the beginning, lol).

14. [ost] p.u.s.s.-e

Very interested to see what the acronym stands for (if it stands for anything)...welp, the Genius annotation says it's about a drug created by the fictional Church of Genxsis to "suppress people who will not obey their will" o-o don't fuck w/cults, kids.

15. DiE4u - 10/10

o-o just releasing how long it's been since this was released. This is bringing up angsty memories...anyway, I love the music video for this (Oli's a Real Vampire Agenda) & I love the pacing of the song. IDK why the "lemme see my halo" part sounds so good.

16. DIg It - 7/10

Fuck, I think this might be Eve talking...*scans some of the lyrics* OK the song's actually alright. Just don't look up the song on Genius unless you want some meta-AI-related stuff. I can tell this isn't supposed to be a banger as much as it is a sad song. It reminds me of Oli's monologue (done while high) on Music to Listen to...("Underground Big", I think?) & it could definitely be used on a soundtrack IMHO. I'd love to hear Oli just sing something chill w/o editing.

Alright, the average of all the ratings is...

5 + 8 + 6 +6 + 10 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 8 + 9 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 10 + 7 = 111

111/14 = 7.9 out of 10

So to me, about half the songs were good. I've felt that way about albums before. I wonder how they finished the album considering that Jordan left in December & yet he's credited on the songs. I don't think this album will be given high ratings, but if it wins an award...I wonder how that'll go down. Anyway, yay for angry maid pics!

#bmth #bring me the horizon #don't like don't read #oli sykes #music #rock music #modern rock #minimal techno #music review #album review #admin

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