Sempiternal, the latest work of genre mashing awesomeness from British metalcore band Bring Me The Horizon is in one word – brilliant. In 8 words “my favorite album of the year so far”. From beginning to end it’s a great album with some amazing imagery painted by lead singer Oliver Sykes (very British indeed).
If you’re not familiar with Bring Me The Horizon I’ll give you the quick and dirty. Their debut album Suicide Season was some great angry music to have on at the gym, but not anything I actually wanted to walk or drive around listening to. It was missing something that could really put it apart from all the other angry music floating around circa 2008 / 2009. Nonetheless it’s enjoyable for what it is. Their second album, There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret., was a marked improvement and had a few songs that are still exciting to listen to. Most notably “It Never Ends”, “Don’t Go”, and “Blessed With A Curse”.
The new album Sempiternal (which means eternal and unchanging; everlasting) is a thrill from beginning to end and has been in heavy rotation on my music devices ever since it’s release. It’s a breath of fresh graveyard air in a genre that has, in my opinion, become a little stale and stagnant with most bands not really taking a gamble and upping their game. However, BMTH does by introducing some incredibly eloquent melodies into their traditional thrashing and it plays ever so nicely off of the old eardrums.
Songs like “Shadow Moses” and “And The Snakes Start To Sing” have an epic quality to their architecture that speaks to the band’s maturity. These songs develop a richness of sound and blended melodies that keeps you coming back for more. Meanwhile songs like “Empire (Let Them Sing)” and “Go To Hell, For Heaven’s Sake” keep things a little bit closer to their roots, which allows BMTH to flex their creativity on tracks like “Sleepwalking” and “Hospital For Souls”.
BMTH keeps getting stronger and stronger with each album and if this is a sign of what’s to come then I say tallyho! And If you’re looking for a metal album with something to offer beyond clashing guitars and the same old drum beats, you really should check it out. I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it sure as hell beats the pants off of some of the noise passing itself off as metal these days.
p.s. If you’re an Alkaline Trio fan you’ll appreciate the nod in the chorus of “Join The Club”.
Rating: 5/5