The last two years have seen the world of Sheffield metalcore quintet Bring Me the Horizon change drastically. First, they replaced long-time member Jona Weinhofen with keyboardist Jordan Fish, before releasing the metalcore-lite of Sempiternal in 2013. Sempiternal was almost a world away from the pure hardcore of earlier records, and it showed a more melodic, slightly anthemic side to the Oliver Sykes-fronted group. Following almost 18 months of intense touring, and with the Sempiternal campaign winding down, Bring Me the Horizon today premiered the brand new single Drown. Read on to see what All Things Loud thought of Drown.
With a December release date, Drown mainly encompasses the more melodic elements of 2013’s Sempiternal, opening with a brief fast-paced surge of pounding drums and synthesizer-led chanting. An opening line of “What doesn’t kill you, makes you wish you were dead” firmly sets the demure tone of the song, with clean vocals intertwining with hypnotic synth lines, jangly guitars and further pounding drums. Drown is nothing like the furious metalcore of Bring Me the Horizon’s past, rather choosing to restrict itself a bit too much and leaning heavily on generic metalcore structures and styles. It’s a shame, as Drown itself is quite a good song, and by far one of Bring Me the Horizon’s most accessible tracks. Drown has certainly divided fans of the band, with many disapproving of the song simply due its lack of anything considerably “heavy”. Bands evolve and change throughout their whole career, be it for better or for worse. Drown shows us that Bring Me the Horizon have the potential to go in a whole new direction, while still maintaining the key elements which have made them who they are today. If anything, this song may well be the start of a new chapter for Bring Me the Horizon.
3.5/5
