BringMeTheHorizon2013

The 10 best Bring Me The Horizon songs

For the first few years of their existence, Bring Me The Horizon seemed to draw more ire than adoration within their native U.K.’s metal scene. Having dropped their debut EP while still in their teens and following it up with 2006’s Count Your Blessings, they were frequently derided as kids who cared more about their hair than the quality of their deathcore. Then, in 2008, they dropped Suicide Season and everything changed. Showcasing an entirely reinvented––and unique––sound, many of the haters pulled a 180. With each subsequent release, BMTH’s songwriting skills, ambition, profile, and critical adulation have grown, and they’ve matured into one of the most exciting and vital bands in contemporary alternative music.

1. “Chelsea Smile” (Suicide Season, 2008)

Between its armor-plated juddering, deranged energy, titanic breakdown and insidiously catchy hooks, “Chelsea Smile” is the kind of anthem every mosher wishes to lose their proverbial shit to. Oli Sykes has never sounded more lairy and eager to get into a fight, and the ambient bridge leading to the aforementioned breakdown is straight up gorgeous.

 

2. “Can You Feel My Heart” (Sempiternal, 2013)

It’s hard to be genuinely haunting and balls-out heavy at the same time, but “Can You Feel My Heart” makes for the perfect combination, with a gigantic, fist-in-the-air chorus thrown in for good measure. Introducing the more integrated electronic elements they debuted on their fourth full-length, it’s hard to imagine they will ever play a set without it.

 

3. “Sleepwalking” (Sempiternal, 2013)

This could well serve as a master class on how to write a song that will dominate rock radio without sacrificing any of your band’s personality. Boasting perhaps the most rousing chorus in their catalog, a stuttering breakdown and a sublime bridge featuring Sykes’ most tender croon before the gigantic climax, everything about this song is moving.

 

4. “Drown” (Single, 2014)

Released as a standalone single, “Drown” is far and away the most melodic track the band have yet penned, and it is a glorious thing, indeed. With its surging opening, massive choruses and the sense of optimism that shines through its apparent negativity, it is perfectly realized. If it’s a hint of where they’re going next, the future could be a wonderful place.

 

5. “The Comedown” (Suicide Season, 2008)

Kicking off their second full-length with this adrenaline-fueled monster made it abundantly clear that BMTH had shaken off the growing pains of their early lackluster deathcore. Lean, mercilessly tight and showcasing Oli Sykes’ throat-stripping shriek, it heralded the arrival of one of the greatest reinventions in heavy music.

 

6. “Crucify Me” (There Is A Hell, Believe Me Ive Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Lets Keep It A Secret, 2010)

Once again redefining their sound, there is perhaps no more ambitious a song in the BMTH arsenal. Six minutes and 20 seconds long, “Crucify Me” features post-rock guitars, snarling metal riffs, skittering electronics cutting up a choir’s contribution and the gentle tones of electro-popper Lights. It comes together to form something exhilarating, a song which really should not work quite as well as it does.

 

7. “The Fox And The Wolf” (There Is A Hell, Believe Me Ive Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Lets Keep It A Secret, 2010)

Had BMTH ended There Is A Hell… with the bleaker than bleak “Blessed With A Curse,” fans might have worried their favorite band had come to the end of their emotional rope. Thankfully, they jammed in this 103-second blast of sneering hardcore violence––featuring Josh Scogin of the Chariot––to wrap things up in breathlessly brutal fashion.

 

8. “No Need For Introductions, I’ve Read About Girls Like You On The Backs Of Toilet Doors (Ben Weinman Remix)” (Suicide Season: Cut Up!, 2009)

Taking the most overtly hostile track from Suicide Season, the Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman contorts it into a maniacal electro-skronk headfuck, dragging the track to an even more deranged––and compelling––intensity than the original.

 

9. “Suicide Season” (Suicide Season, 2008)

The longest––and most poignant––track on the album of the same name, this captures a far more introspective and desperate side to the band. An air of confusion and sense of struggle yank the heartstrings without lapsing into cliché, and the epic scale is drama personified.

 

10. “Shadow Moses” (Sempiternal, 2013)

The gang chorus that kicks things off was destined to be screamed back by thousands of baying fans, and the rest of the song doesn’t disappoint. A diamond-hard riff, a decent dose of sneering vitriol and plenty of space to let that chorus soar make “Shadow Moses” one of their finest moments.

 

ALTERNATIVE

10. “Tell Slater Not To Wash His Dick” (Count Your Blessings, 2006)

Though not drastically different from the chunder surrounding it, this track pushes ahead of everything else on Count Your Blessings. Charged up with exuberant energy and rich melody woven into its riffs, Lee Malia’s shrill atmospheric lead at the climax hints that great things were to come from his six strings.

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