By Geoffrey Rowlands

''We’re a totally different band now from when we started,” said Bring Me The Horizon singer, songwriter, frontman and co-founder Oliver Sykes. “We formed the band ten years ago when we were teenagers so it’s hardly surprising that our style has changed. But we’ve also deliberately made changes rather than just evolved naturally.”

Despite their evolution from deathcore to a less aggressive, more rock music brand of metal, the band have always retained solid support from fans and critics. They were named Best British Band at the 2013 Kerrang! Awards, seven years after winning Best British Newcomer.

“It’s not universal love,” Oliver admitted. “We do tend to polarize opinions. The people who enjoy our music tend to absolutely love what we do. But the reverse is true for people who don’t like our songs. We’ve even occasionally had haters climb on stage and try to attack us.”

Oliver and his drummer friend Matt Nicholls formed Bring Me The Horizon in 2004. They shared an interest in American metalcore bands such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling and played together in two bands around the Sheffield and Rotherham area of south Yorkshire.

A meeting with lead guitarist Lee Malia saw the Metallica and At The Gates fan become the band’s third member while the original line-up was rounded out by rhythm guitarist Curtis Ward. Realizing they still needed a bass player, Matt Kean was recruited shortly afterwards.

“The band was complete but we still needed a name,” Oliver recalled. “I’d seen the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Captain Jack Sparrow’s last line was ‘Now, bring me that horizon’ and it stuck in my mind. We adapted it slightly and had our name.”

Their 2006 debut album, “Count Your Blessings,” had been preceded by an attention-grabbing EP, “This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For.” The deathcore style of these early recordings has now been largely disowned by the band who regard their 2008 sophomore album, “Suicide Season,” as Bring Me The Horizon’s true genesis.

“I remember one reviewer saying ‘Suicide Season’ was one hundred per cent different to ‘Count Your Blessings,’” Oliver remarked. “We totally agreed. We want each of our albums to be different but we had basically grown up both musically and as people in the time between our first two albums.

“If anyone didn’t know, I’m sure they’d think our first two albums must have been made by different bands. We moved even further away from deathcore on our third album (2010’s ‘There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret’) and even incorporated some pure pop on our last album (2013’s ‘Sempiternal.’).”

Personnel changes saw Curtis Ward depart the band in 2009. Born deaf in one ear, concert performances had left Curtis with worsening tinnitus in his functioning ear. His replacement, former Bleeding Through guitarist Jona Weinhofen, subsequently left the band last year. Rather than find a new rhythm guitarist, Bring Me The Horizon recruited keyboard player Jordan Fish.

“I played keyboards when needed,” Oliver stated. “But we were using keyboards in so many more of our songs that it was better to bring in a top class musician like Jordan.

“He is also a brilliant writer. I write the main structure of our songs, Lee writes the main guitar riff and the others then make their contributions to the rest of the song. But Jordan’s contribution is so good that it pushes the rest of us to become more inspired.”

Oliver and Jordan are the only credited writers on the band’s smash hit new single, Drown.

“The reviews were mixed,” Oliver smiled. “Some critics called the song alternative rock rather than metalcore. One even said it was expectation-destroying.

“But the positive reviewers shared the reaction of our fans. We’ve had big hit albums, our last two both topped the Australian chart, and we’ve had some big rock chart hits. But we’ve never had anything remotely like a big hit in the regular singles chart. Drown was actually number one on the British iTunes download chart, we couldn’t believe it!”

Is Drown just a one-off or an indication of their latest change in musical direction?

“We might not put Drown on our next album so it could be a one-off,” Oliver reflected. “But we like to push the musical boundaries. We had the rapper Orifice Vulgatron on a song called Don’t Look Down which we made for Zane Lowe’s rescore of the film, Drive.

“It was an opportunity to do something different. We like to experiment, take risks and keep everyone guessing about what we might do next.”

 

IN BRIEF

 

Marilyn Manson

 

Marilyn Manson has just released Deep Six as the second single from his forthcoming ninth studio album, “The Pale Emperor.”

Lead single, Third Day Of A Seven Day Binge, was issued in October. The video can be seen at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRKsF17wY30

No official video has been made as yet for Deep Six. However, an official audio is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9YJS4nTNsM

Fan response to both singles has been hugely positive. Many critics are equally impressed with suggestions being made that “The Pale Emperor” could be Marilyn’s most evolved, accomplished and mature work to date.

 

Marina and the
Diamonds/Pharrell Williams

 

Pharrell Williams was named International Artist of the Year at the inaugural BBC Music Awards. His track, Happy, also took Song of the Year honours.

Marina and The Diamonds didn’t feature among any of the categories but Marina Diamandis has just issued a new song with the same title as Pharrell’s award-winning track.

Marina’s Happy is the second single taken from her forthcoming third studio album, “Froot.” It follows the album title-track, which was released in October, and precedes three more songs one of which will be issued each month before the LP is released in April.

An audio posting of Marina’s new single is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCB_MbYyCYQ

Anyone who has yet to hear Froot can check out the full length version at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI_0HIz_4JY or view the shorter official video version at www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZzcY7ASQno

 

Beyonce

 

Beyonce has issued a short black and white film entitled Yours and Mine. It was created to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the superstar singer releasing her self-titled fifth studio album.

The film features behind-the-scenes clips of Beyonce mixed with music video footage. It is soundtracked by her own spoken word commentary during which she essentially outlines her feelings and beliefs on an assortment of topics.

Fan response has been decidedly mixed. Some sympathise with her plight of being unable to do ordinary things while others question what a multi-millionairess has to complain about.

Judge for yourself by viewing Yours and Mine at www.beyonce.com or www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4pPNxUzGvc

 

Coldplay

 

Coldplay have unveiled a new single, Miracles. The track was written especially for the upcoming film, Unbroken, and has already been shortlisted for the Best Song award at the 2015 Oscars.

There is as yet no video for Miracles but an audio posting can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYogZ1KER_k

Unbroken was produced and directed by Angelina Jolie. It tells the true story of Olympian and war hero Louie Zamperini. He survived at sea in a life raft for 47 days after a plane crash during World War II. He was then captured by the Japanese and sent to a series of prisoner-of-war camps where he suffered terrible mistreatment.