I don’t think I’m giving too much away by saying that the turn-of-the-millennium aesthetic is enjoying tremendous popularity in the mid-2020s. The Y2K craze is in full swing not only in fashion, movies, and TV shows, but of course in music as well – especially in the harder genres we love so much; such as nu metal, metalcore, emo, and post-hardcore – all of which are experiencing a new heyday. The older bands are literally storming the world’s biggest stages, while the younger, fresh acts are proud to have jumped on the revival bandwagon of the very bands they grew up listening to. Of the “trendier” genres, perhaps only deathcore has most recently achieved near-mainstream status, but this isn’t all that surprising, since the style itself is arguably the youngest of them all; its emergence is generally dated to the early 2000s, while its rise to commercial prominence came a few years later.
And that brings us to Bring Me The Horizon, one of the world’s biggest rock bands right now – a band that many new fans don’t even realize that before they were playing in arenas in front of ten thousands of people, they used to be a bunch of kids from Sheffield with straightened, black-dyed hair and nails, and were belting out songs with dissonant, Black Dahlia-style riffs, and songs named after a certain Slater’s unwashed dick. The British band’s debut album, which turned twenty this year, proved to be the perfect opportunity for BMTH to celebrate it in true BMTH fashion – in a way very few before them have: thumbing their noses at success and glamour, and fully embracing their raw, aggressive, and often instinct-driven youthful nature.
Band: Bring Me The Horizon (United Kingdom)
Album: Count Your Blessings / Count Your Blessings | Repented
Genre: deathore, melodic death metal, metalcore
Release date: October 30, 2006 / July 10, 2026
Label: Visible Noise Records, Earache / RCA, Sony
Similar bands: As Blood Runs Black, The Black Dahlia Murder, Winds of Plague, Carnifex, Whitechapel, Bodysnatcher, Psycho-Frame
MySpace, hair straighteners, and breakdowns
Do you know that feeling when you’re going about your ordinary weekday, and suddenly something incredibly embarrassing and shameful from your past flashes into your mind – something that still haunts you, and whose memory you can’t completely erase from your mind no matter how hard you try? Well, the 2006 album Count Your Blessings has always been exactly that for Bring Me The Horizon. Of course, there’s absolutely no question of it being an unbearably bad album; if you haven’t heard it yet, think of it as the debut album of a relatively new band: rough around the edges, unpolished, somewhat clumsy, but full of heart and soul. It’s important to note that we’re still talking about the early 2000s, when almost everything needed to turn a simple amateur into a professional sound engineer in essentially two weeks wasn’t yet available online. These guys, who were 18–20 years old at the time, essentially infused the album with the influences they were really into back then: lots of melodic Swedish death metal, following in the footsteps of At the Gates, Arch Enemy, or In Flames; American death metal like The Black Dahlia Murder or Obituary; and dissonant, core-style stuff, such as The Dillinger Escape Plan, Norma Jean, or Skycamefalling.
What set them apart from others even back then was their ambition and perfectionism. The guys openly admitted they wanted to make the best debut album in the world, but unfortunately, this wasn’t compatible with their youthful self-destructiveness, their decidedly scattered approach (they almost always recorded their parts separately), or the fact that they didn’t really know what they were doing. Even producer Dan Sprigg didn’t help much – he’d previously worked with bands like Cradle of Filth and Napalm Death, so he brought a significant age gap to the table, joining the guys as a professional rather than a babysitter. Although, as I mentioned earlier, from a current – or rather, a die-hard fan’s – perspective, there aren’t many issues with CYB, at the time of its release it made the Sheffield quintet as polarizing as possible, and even then there was a strange, inexplicable hype surrounding them that these MySpace heroes could actually go places if they didn’t screw it up. Of course, the well-established habit of hating anything that’s successful was already in full swing back then: critics tore the album to shreds, and many viewed the pairing of melodic death metal riffs and breakdowns as nothing short of sacrilege. If you look at it that way, Bring Me was already one step ahead of everyone else – they just didn’t know it yet: Count Your Blessings was essentially one of the pioneers of the deathcore genre. Unfortunately, the bad taste it left in many people’s mouths backfired on the band as well: the guys treated the album as a mistake and a misstep, and then, little by little, as a trauma that had barely even happened; and although they didn’t remove it entirely from circulation, they essentially turned their backs on it, almost completely writing the songs off their setlists. Even two years later, during the promotional campaign for the much more metalcore-oriented Suicide Season, they could only speak negatively about its predecessor.
If we take a closer look, the debut album was built around a truly interesting concept: take the thunderous riffs of what were considered the heaviest and darkest death metal bands of the time, and then add lyrics about girls, growing up, and overly strict parents. The latter came about because the singer, Oli Sykes, admitted he didn’t have a particularly rough childhood, so he could really only write about what interested him at the time. So there’s no death, depression, misery, apathy, demons, monsters, or ghosts – and this creates a blend with the musical style of other bands writing on similar themes that was truly unprecedented at the time. Essentially, they paired death metal with emo. Bring Me The Horizon has always – and continues to do so, now with far greater awareness – thought and created along the spectrum of extremes, seeking to dictate the direction rather than trail behind it. That’s why these guys have always been one step ahead of everyone else, whether it was pairing ethereal metalcore with ambient sounds (Sempiternal – 2013) or, toward the end of the 2010s, when electronic pop music enjoyed incredible popularity, so they simply followed suit (Amo – 2019). The 2020s’ Bring Me (Post Human releases) essentially blend hyperpop with metal, post-hardcore, and emo, not only taking a much more Glassjaw-esque direction (which, by the way, has always been the number-one band the guys have been fans of, though twenty years ago they couldn’t incorporate that influence into their music due to its melodic nature) – but a major collaboration also took place when the singer of the band in question, Daryl Palumbo, made a guest appearance on the guys’ song Amen!
Although Count Your Blessings clearly became the black sheep of the band (to draw an even more precise parallel, I could even say it became their St. Anger), over time, the memory of it has gradually taken on a rosy hue, almost exactly as happened with another landmark band and the album that actually caused the band’s (first) breakup. Yes, I’m talking about the Swedish band Refused and Shape of Punk to Come. Around the album’s tenth anniversary, there was repeated talk regarding their song Drown, released around that time, to the effect that if they were to show this to their past selves, they certainly wouldn’t be grateful. Even though by around 2014 the band was light-years away from its early style, the lead single from CYB – Pray for Plagues, one of the crown jewels of the band’s early era – returned to the band’s setlist after a ten-year hiatus; in fact, guitarist Curtis Ward, who had left after the release of their second album, even made guest appearances at a few of the band’s concerts at the time. As both the music scene and public discourse became more sensitive over the years, writers for the biggest alternative music websites began to speak out in support of the album in the late 2010s, praising its skill, boldness, and daring. By early 2020, the album had become one of the most talked-about works in the deathcore genre – essentially a relic of a bygone era, complete with the guys’ hair, the childlike sound, and the fact that CYB still fucks up the place.
Fast forward to today, and Bring Me The Horizon has become quite the ADHD band, and it seems that the departure of Jordan Fish – the keyboardist, samplerist, and production mastermind, has shaken up the band’s operations – a well-oiled machine that thoroughly planned every move and had practically become a franchise. Essentially, Jordan was the brake and the counterbalance, to use terms that have become trendy in recent times. One need only look at the Post Human series – which began as a string of EPs and continued with a full-length album following Fish’s departure – or simply consider the fact that as recently as last year, Sykes stated that the album-making process, and the departure of a member as solid as a concrete pillar had weighed so heavily on them that, once the current festival season wrapped up (in this case, their Reading & Leeds performances), they wanted to hit the brakes and steer the band toward a recharging hiatus. Nevertheless, 2026 kicked off almost from the very beginning with cryptic CYB references – much to the delight of longtime fans, but to the complete bewilderment of the younger fans who joined the band during their TikTok rise. Then the veil was lifted on the previously concealed, twisted offspring conceived through incest: Bring Me The Horizon is re-recording Count Your Blessings, and what’s more, they’re performing it in its entirety as part of a (initially thought to be one-time) and unrepeatable performance. The voices of the world’s alternative millennials fell silent as one; every once-marginalized young person who had always believed that “this isn’t just a passing phase” was essentially validated by the fact that one of the world’s greatest rock bands didn’t let them down and tied up a loose end: bestowing the well-deserved grandeur upon its long-neglected firstborn.
When the band announced in April that they were reissuing their debut album under the title Repented and would be performing it in its entirety in Manchester, England, alongside a host of other awesome bands, I was, shall we say, only moderately excited:
- On the one hand, I’m definitely not the type to re-release, remix, or rework stuff; personally, I simply consider it the laziest way to make money – the very last refuge for musicians when they’ve truly run out of all creativity and energy. In this case, however, I trusted in BMTH’s nearly inexhaustible ingenuity – that they’d do everything in their power to ensure this wouldn’t be just a “plain” repackage – and that’s exactly what happened.
- On the other hand, although I’ve always had the utmost respect for ‘Blessings, it doesn’t really even make it into my top 3 Bring Me releases; the apple of my eye is the album with the long title (There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen it… – 2010), which I’d really love to see commemorated in some form, say, around 2030.
- My third, somewhat silly concern was simply that, although I’d absolutely love to attend such an exclusive performance – one worthy of the history books of the scene – given today’s ticket-buying habits, I’d have next to no chance of getting in amid the tickets selling out in a matter of seconds. This essentially proved to be true; the one-of-a-kind July show sold out in mere minutes, which the band eventually remedied by announcing a second performance – everything the same – the band, the setlist, the guests – just all on the next day. I missed out on that one, too. Maybe even faster than the first one. With the calm of someone who knew I didn’t stand a chance, I signed up for the waiting list.
I’ll never forget it – it was a Saturday morning in May when, around 8:30 a.m., I received a notification on my phone saying that two tickets had become available for the second (Saturday) day. I barely managed not to spit out the brown liquid that helps me wake up before I started frantically tapping away at my phone’s screen. Up until that point, I’d never understood that kind of fanaticism between fans and performers – where the former are willing to travel thousands of kilometers and spend a fortune just to see a performer or band play, at best for an hour. I’d always thought this obsession was a bit one-sided, since what’s such a special experience for you is often just a Tuesday night “shift” for the other party. Then, with a few clicks and roughly 400+ pounds (~170,000 forints), I found myself with tickets, travel, and lodging all sorted – we’re going to see Bring Me the Horizon again – and in a way we’ve never experienced before: I’ve been lucky enough to see them both on the verge of breaking out and at the top of the world, but never like this – armed with their current knowledge and experience, they’re shedding their past raw, aggressive, uncompromising selves. That’s when it became clear to me that, yes, Oli Sykes’s band is the reason I’m willing to go the extra mile.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves – the album was released on the day of the (first) concert, and before that, as a teaser, we got the “revised” version of Black & Blue first, followed by a long-unknown closing track, the brand-new Dehumanized – and that was the moment when Bring Me broke the rules, opened a wormhole between 2006 and 2026, and a rock band that had been striding confidently in and out of the mainstream proudly returned to its deathcore roots. I’ve already pretty much covered everything about the song – why the whole thing exudes such massive “big dick energy” – even though, compared to their earlier work, what we got here is a much more controlled chaos. I’ll just quietly note here that I would have loved to hear the final track from the original album – Eyeless, which poses as a Slipknot cover – reimagined in a new form, but I’m by no means insatiable, because Repented has truly become a spectacular reimagining, an incredibly heartwarming gesture of welcoming back a previously abandoned successor. Oli Sykes stated in more than one interview and podcast before the release that
Our goal was to use our current knowledge and the tools at our disposition to make this stuff sound as good as it possibly could in 2006.
And damn, it worked! The album really does have an incredibly crisp sound, even though Fish – long considered a key figure – hasn’t been part of the equation for quite some time now. At the same time, Sykes spent just enough time working closely with him over the years to master the ins and outs of production. He and guitarist Lee Malia have done a great job of letting longtime fans hear BMTH in this form again, as well as checking off this previously not-quite-perfect endeavor from their own, die-hard perfectionist bucket list. Win-win. When the guys were told not too long ago that waving a Palestinian flag at their concert might affect their career, we had no idea just how much of a middle finger Repented would be to all the doubters. The album and the new song, Dehumanized, are prime examples of how the band – which has nurtured generations of Heavy artists – is essentially a shape-shifter that switches styles with the same playful ease as changing underwear.
Not only has the album aged twenty years, but so have our knees
On the day the album was released, we set off for Manchester, and if your first question right now is why Bring Me’s “homecoming” was held there of all places – why not in Sheffield, where they’re from, or even in London, the country’s capital – my answer is simple: because Oli and the guys planned a relatively small-scale, barrier-free, blood-and-sweat-soaked madness for the first-ever live performance of their debut material. And what better platform for this than Outbreak, the UK’s largest hardcore, emo, punk, and metalcore gathering – now in its 15th year – which makes bigger waves every year, and although it started as a small, grassroots, independent festival, this year’s event—held two weeks before BMTH – already featured acts like Alexisonfire, Basement (with a new album), Converge (with two fresh albums under their belt), and Hatebreed (who will soon release a new album). Incidentally, the event has been expanding into the capital since last year; this August, for example, acts like Deftones, Interpol, and AFI will be entertaining the crowds there. But yes, we can probably say that Outbreak has never had a bigger name than Bring Me The Horizon, and the guys have never driven so many people wild with their deathcore as they did this time around. Those who made the pilgrimage to Manchester that weekend were treated to a whole host of firsts.
And yet, the country’s entertainment scene was pretty bustling that weekend in early July: that’s when My Chemical Romance – and even Pitbull – were in the capital, at least according to the countless pale-faced people wearing alternative/emo band T-shirts and/or bald caps that we saw at every stage of our four-hour train ride, which was filled with minimal mishaps. But we finally arrived in England’s third-largest city, famous for its soccer teams, Oasis, and its diverse industrial landscape… well, enough with the tour guide talk – that’s not what we’re here for! The venue this time was once again the Bowlers Exhibition Centre, as it has been (almost) every year since the festival’s return from its COVID-induced hiatus. The venue is located in the suburbs, right in the middle of the industrial district, about forty minutes from downtown if you take the tram. It’s a bit faster by Uber, though it’s much more conspiracy theory-laden, thanks to our friendly driver. Upon arriving at the venue, two things caught my eye: first, the incredibly smooth, professional, and friendly(!) entry process; second, the lack of shade – and whatever little shadow there was, it was swarmed by pale-skinned alternative/emo/goth millennials like flies on fried meat at a family backyard barbecue. The main stage, by the way, was located outside the building, along with countless food stalls offering a selection of dishes, each more delicious than the last, and almost entirely vegan; inside, two enormous halls were available to the crowd. In the outside one, the only thing available was the Bring Me merch table; at “normal” Outbreaks, this also functions as a stage, and although the zigzagging line – which at first glance looked like it stretched for kilometers – was intimidating as it wound its way toward the single table at one end of the hall, in reality you never had to wait more than five minutes anywhere – well, maybe just at the photo booth, but we were happy to overlook that. Huge kudos for the infrastructure here, too – it was clear from everyone, from the bar staff to the security guards to the very last rubbish pickup crew member, that everyone did their job like true pros and went out of their way to ensure visitors could have a smooth and enjoyable time.
Upon entering the inner section of the building, we were greeted by the indoor bar, the backdrops for the other performing bands, and, of course, the event’s “small stage.” The first band kicked things off ten minutes before four in the afternoon, and I’d like to take this opportunity to mention just how incredibly punctual everything was – every band started and finished exactly according to the scheduled times. It’s not often that someone like me – a hobby journalist who’s seen it all, from the most remote village festivals to arenas holding tens of thousands – experiences a well-oiled machine like this. This was often more of a curse than a blessing on an already packed afternoon/evening, which, on top of that, ended earlier on this day compared to Friday due to the England-Norway quarterfinal match broadcast at 10 p.m. after the concerts. I would have loved to see everyone, because Bring Me put together such an amazing lineup – at least for me – that it truly broke my heart when I had to skip someone – even though it was necessary for a “higher purpose” – but more on that later.
So, at 4 p.m., England’s freshest and most lovable hardcore supergroup, Still In Love, took the stage. The band is made up of former members of bands considered legendary in the British hardcore punk scene, such as the Dead Swans, Outbreak veteran Brutality Will Prevail, Last Witness…and even Bring Me The Horizon. Yes, you read that right – one of the band’s guitarists is none other than Curtis Ward, who was responsible for more than a few gritty riffs back in the Count Your Blessings days. When it was announced that they’d be performing, the internet, of course, started buzzing with speculation that Ward might reunite with his old band, just as they had done ten years ago. I’ll spoil the punchline: the big reunion didn’t happen. Still, it was a very wholesome decision on Oli and the guys’ part to give Curtis’s new band a chance to shine. And they certainly needed it, because a huge crowd had already gathered to see them. Yes, in England it’s common to actually watch the opening act, rather than standing outside smoking while they play – or worse yet, not even showing up at the venue at all. The band, by the way, plays a subgenre of melodic hardcore – now a fond memory for many – that was a mainstay for a generation, especially in the 2010s, particularly in England. The guys’ debut album, Recovery Language, came out last year, featuring Sam Carter as a guest on one track; naturally, most of the set focused on songs from that album, but there were also some new compositions, and here we even got to experience what it’s like when someone isn’t caught while jumping off the stage. Yes, the party stops – at least for a few moments. Then it picks right back up, and Still In Love made the most of their half-hour set. They’re definitely worth checking out if you’re into British melodic hardcore in the vein of Dead Swans, More Than Life, and Heights.
Just as Still In Love finished, Showing Teeth took the stage in the courtyard. They were the very last addition to the lineup, and the only band I hadn’t heard of at all until then. In my defense, with only two released songs to their name, they were relatively unknown, and after doing some preliminary research, I can now drop the plural: Showing Teeth is the solo project of the singer, Addison – accompanied, of course, by session musicians to make the live performance possible. The shock and excitement caused by the two-song release – as well as the sudden teleportation from a Nashville bedroom to stages in front of thousands (of international audiences) – accounted for 90% of the banter between songs, while the remaining 10% came from Addison’s more-or-less successful attempts at a British accent. After playing the two songs released so far (Labyrinth and Rip), they announced that they’d be playing some new tracks (No shit, Sherlock!), including some from their recently announced debut EP. Musically, Showing Teeth has largely found its voice in the turbulent alternation between gritty deathcore/metalcore riffs and pop-infused melodies. It’s promising that Matt Halperin of Periphery is also heavily involved in the project. The guys, by the way, nailed the musical side of things, and the frail-looking, petite frontwoman – despite her sometimes faltering voice (likely due to nerves) – consistently struck a balance between screams and angelic harmonies, and she’s so down-to-earth that after the show, she mingled with the crowd, wandering back and forth just like an ordinary fan – because that’s probably what she is. I know this because right next to us, a group of young people were giving her enthusiastic compliments on her performance. A promising start – we’re looking forward to more!
Returning to the building – which was perhaps five degrees cooler but still unbearably hot – Car Underwater had already started their set; their name was also unfamiliar to me until the moment the event was announced, Fortunately, they’d already released their debut EP, Dagger Breaks Window, in the meantime, so I had time to check it out, listen to it all the way through – and then about ten more times – and absolutely fall in love with these guys’ turn-of-the-millennium mall emo/Myspace-core sound. The young musicians from Los Angeles – whose average age was probably around 18 – certainly lived up to expectations; I was particularly impressed by the almost organic transitions between positions, suggesting that the younger generation is definitely not afraid to master their craft across multiple instruments and roles. At the same time, it was hilarious that during the upbeat emo/post-hardcore songs, you couldn’t get the hardcore guys to stop dancing, and – evoking Jurassic Park – the floor was shaking from the dozen or so people next to us who were two-stepping furiously. That, along with the helium-filled Snow White balloon stuck to the ceiling, gave the whole performance a pretty comical twist, but regardless, Car Underwater is a ridiculously raw, fresh band whose music can serve as an excellent source of nourishment for both older fans and young people just jumping on the emo hype train via TikTok.
Bring Me The Horizon’s Young Talent Program © came to an end here, and next up on the main stage was Dying Wish. Although they’ve “only” been around for ten years, this Oregon-based metalcore band has fought its way to the forefront with three albums under its belt and an incredible amount of hard work. Part of the reason for this is that their music works seamlessly in the rougher, more aggressive scenes, while they’re also increasingly opening up to a wider audience with their more melodic, singing parts. This could actually be the motto of the day: the grit of the 2000s meets segments that are more easily accessible to the mainstream, and Dying Wish is truly at the forefront of this trend – it’s no wonder they’re racking up the biggest tours; sometimes as guests of the host, BMTH, sometimes supporting heavyweights like Spiritbox or Imminence, and countless times headlining their own tours. Most of their setlist consisted of a mix of songs from last year’s Flesh Stays Together and their album from the one before that, which they performed with such excellent flair – almost like festival veterans – that I even managed to notice that, aside from singer Emma Boster, everyone in the band is bald. I hope the guys slathered enough sunscreen on their shaved heads – the 30-degree (plus a heat index of 5) summer in the island country can be pretty harsh.
From the lineup, I also managed to catch Static Dress, who recently released their second full-length album titled Injury Episode, and I’m not surprised that Bring Me has essentially turned this young post-hardcore/metalcore/emo quartet from Leeds – once just a “little brother” act – into a full-fledged touring partner they can rely on anytime, anywhere, and with anyone. Olli Appleyard and company have improved tremendously since their first album (which wasn’t bad at all, by the way), and their sensational songwriting skills are surpassed only by their live performances. An absolute concert, to quote my fellow colleague. Unfortunately, every dream come true has a slightly less pleasant, almost nightmarish side to it; in this case, it was that we were forced to skip two bands from the amazing lineup in order to get food and secure a good spot for the headliner. Those bands were Heriot and Rolo Tomassi. I’ve had the chance to see both bands several times – the latter, by the way, is one of my favorite bands – and from the one or two songs I managed to catch, I can say they delivered their performances with the utmost professionalism (Rolo Tomassi, in fact, was playing the wonderful A Flood of Light while I was standing in line at the bar, at least I was able to convince my suddenly watery eyes that it was just the carbonation in the beer that was making me tear up).
About half an hour before Bring Me The Horizon’s clockwork-precise start, we’d already secured our relatively awesome spots, and although my heart kept telling me to dive right into the middle of the action, the fact that I wasn’t keen on spending the rest of the evening in a Manchester emergency room, along with a call-out on the screens from one of BMTH’s avatars, E.V.E.’s MySpace-style version, which stated that not only had the album aged two decades, but so had our knees, convinced us that we were just fine where we were – to the left of the mosh pit, halfway back from the stage. Since we’d traveled this far, spent this much money, and – last but not least – waited this long to hear these songs performed live, we might as well enjoy it to the fullest. E.V.E., by the way, wasn’t the only character to make an appearance from the Bring Me universe. M8, the little electric gadget – unlike the girl -explained how to most effectively kick the living crap out of someone standing next to you. Beyond these funny little interludes, the band screened countless fake MySpace-era commercials before, a little after 8:45, the iconic beats of one of the world’s most famous deathcore tracks, Pray For Plagues, began to play. I’ll be honest, at that point my mind was pretty much in a fog; I was completely transported, and essentially all my senses were driven by my emotions for the next nearly an hour and a half. That’s why I won’t be recounting the evening in full detail, because it felt a bit like a historic event. No, not in a Facebook kind of way, but a coming together worthy of the metal/alternative/emo history books: Bring Me The Horizon had returned and come full circle. If I had to describe the performance in one word, I’d say it was elemental. If I had to use more, I’d say it was a performance conducted with the utmost professionalism, embodying both the modern BMTH’s often unrealistically perfectionist attitude toward themselves and the energy and vulnerability of the older, almost still-kid-like members. The latter was most evident in frontman Oli Sykes, whom everyone was worried about – wondering how he’d be able to hit those guttural notes after so many years of singing. The answer: with ease. Guys, it’s like riding a bike, and while it’s true that Sykes doesn’t practice every day anymore, the setlist still includes some scream-heavy tracks – and, as the video uploaded to the band’s page clearly showed, he’s likely spent the past half-year practicing diligently.
The face of the band – a man in his late thirties who now spends his days in Brazil as the new dad of twins – seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself in the role: he was (obviously) the most active of the members, firing up the crowd like a true hype man, interacting with the audience, getting them to sing along, and made funny jabs at them – like asking where the mosh pit was during a slower part (because there were some!), or, when the show had to be paused several times due to someone’s mishap, emphasizing that we should look out for each other, only to call on us half a minute later to “kill the person next to you.” Yes, if I haven’t made it clear enough, this was a completely barrier-free show, the likes of which Bring Me probably hasn’t had in ten years. People took full advantage of this (one-time*) opportunity and flew off the stage like banknotes in a rap video. Oli eagerly helped them up onto the stage, high-fived them, and handed out quick hugs, all while constantly chanting, “Twenty fucking years!” and then, at the end, he even dove into the sea of people himself. Besides him, perhaps only the guitarist, Lee, offered a few scattered, human reactions toward the audience, though I understand that the instrumental section, rather than mingling with the crowd, focused all its attention on performing songs they hadn’t played in twenty years with maximum precision. And they certainly delivered on that. They played the songs from Count Your Blessings from start to finish, just as they’re written in the book, with minor changes here and there (e.g., Tell Slater… was performed without the outro), and although the aforementioned reunion with Curtis didn’t happen, the band still dedicated Off the Heezay to their former guitarist. The crowning moment finally came with the old-new Dehumanized during prime time, when the crowd truly went wild, as even those who had only recently jumped on the Bring Me hype were finally able to join the nostalgic hive mind.
Of course, the evening didn’t end there – it would have been a shame, given that the concert was promoted as “CYB + bangers”. Anyone who was expecting Can You Feel My Heart, Throne, or even Kingslayer as part of that lineup was likely in for a bit of a disappointment. The British band knew full well that the focus of the evening was on their die-hard fans – they needed to give them the ultimate climax – so the “encore” featured such indispensable tracks from BMTH’s back catalog as the marathon-length Suicide Season – sung along with the audience – Diamond’s Aren’t Forever, famous for its catchphrases, and, perhaps my personal favorite, the absolute non plus ultra Blessed With a Curse. It was really hard for me to hold back my tears here, since this is one of my favorite songs, and I never would have thought I’d ever hear (and scream along to) those lines live:
Everything I touch turns to stone, so wrap your arms around me, and leave me on my own!
The evening ended with a not-so-eco-friendly shower of confetti, and then everyone had ten minutes to get pumped up for the England-Norway match. But we can’t let this pass without comment. I mean, not the fact that the English sent Erling Haaland and his teammates home in an incredibly exciting match. But rather, that Bring Me The Horizon – as one of the world’s most celebrated rock bands – hasn’t forgotten its roots, and without a trace of pretension, paid tribute to where they came from and to the people whose persistent support over the past 20 years has likely made it possible for them to be where they are today. The Sheffield band has always been known as a band of extremes, building their career on polarities – the rougher and the poppier elements found in their music – so I’m not surprised that this return to their roots from two decades ago happened in such an organic, flexible, and soulful way.
This is where I’d normally wrap things up with a somewhat cliché conclusion, reflect on the concert’s legacy, and rely on symbolism – suggesting that for twenty years we believed we were cursed because we could no longer hear the songs that defined our youth, when all along we should have just been grateful for what we have. I’m not going to do that – or have I already? – instead, I’ll say goodbye with Oli Sykes’s words, those who were there know, and for those who weren’t:
You motherfuckers, I’m speechless! This might have been the best gig of all time!
* Following their two concerts in Manchester, Bring Me The Horizon will also perform the album from start to finish in North America at Alabama’s Furnace Fest, taking place in October.
The band’s next concert will be right here at home, on August 14 at the Sziget Festival. BMTH joked on their social media pages that they’ll bring the exact same setlist to the pop music festival as well.
photos: Bring Me The Horizon, Showing Teeth, Dying Wish Instagram pages
BRING ME THE HORIZON
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