Over the past few years, Bring Me The Horizon has morphed into a juggernaut of a band. Love them or hate them, they have become unavoidable in the rock and metal community. Formed in 2004, the five-piece group from Sheffield, United Kingdom is fronted by Oli Sykes who is accompanied by guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nichols and the most recent addition, keyboardist/programmer/
Exactly ten years ago from today, on October 30, 2006, Bring Me The Horizon released their debut album ‘Count Your Blessings‘ through Visible Noise Records in the UK. At the time, Visible Noise rostered house name bands such as Lostprophets and Bullet For My Valentine and now with the addition of a young BMTH, ranging between the ages of 17 and 20, ‘Count Your Blessings’ was released just 2 years after their first EP ‘This Is What The Edge of Your Seat Was Made For’ and it needed to deliver.
Clocking in at just over 36-minutes, this 10-track album continued the deathcore sound they had been using since their formation. The record was absolutely polarizing in the metal community the minute that it dropped. But it was more than a big sound and a pretty face that saw the records success. Its style alone invoked not only the typical deathcore formula but also, and admirably for a band of their age, saw other thrash and groove metal elements also, all the while keeping it catchy. The fact that the band dressed very scene-like, as opposed to the standard metal fashion caused even more controversy. ‘Count Your Blessings’ brought widespread attention to the developing subgenre, putting Bring Me The Horizon in the same league as bands such as Red Chord, All Shall Perish, and Job For A Cowboy at the time. In fact, Bring Me The Horizon was the biggest deathcore band on the planet until Suicide Silence released their first record one year later. Two music videos were released for the record. “Pray for Plagues” and “For Stevie Wonder’s Eyes Only (Braille).”
Admittedly the lyrics on the records are very basic and some of the breakdowns are very generic. But to give credit where it is due, lyrically the guys were writing what they knew about, the troubled times of their adolescence as opposed preaching what they think they know. Then, to the bands credit, a lot of kids related and so their fan base grew rapidly. It could be argued that there is some riff borrowing on a couple track as there is with many songwriters in the early days, but these kids could shred and these typical learning curves of a young band don’t disqualify ‘Count Your Blessings’ from being a landmark for all things deathcore. All together this full-length record had a distinct and unique sound that really stood out at the time.
BMTH would abandon this genre completely two years later on their second record ‘Suicide Season’, in favor of a more straight-forward metalcore sound. While many would have loved for them to release a couple of follow ups with a similar style, their more accessible music has given them staying power that probably wouldn’t have lasted if they had continued being a deathcore band. BMTH hasn’t played a single song from ‘Count Your Blessings’ since performing “Pray for Plagues” in late 2014. The band no longer listens to the death metal and deathcore bands that they did at the time, and have no desire to go back to their old sound. Ultimately, and in respecting their decision to do so, ‘Count Your Blessings’ will always be a classic.
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Written By,
Dylan Lyness