Bring Me The Horizon – There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret

By Tom Aylott

Let’s be honest for a second – Bring Me The Horizon turn more than a few stomachs. Oft-maligned, labelled as fashion metal, and not particularily helped by the fact that the name Oliver Sykes is coupled with the word “allegedly” fairly often.

To break a personal rule and the journalistic ‘fourth wall’ for a moment, I feel it’s important to mention that I’m not personally a Bring Me The Horizon fan or hater – what I’ve heard previously isn’t something I’ve been interested in, and the various accusations whirring around their singer tends to poison the ear to objective opinion on the music. I first heard ‘There Is A Hell…’ purely through circumstance, not knowing who it was, and it caught my ear without a the usual self-imposed layer of preconception.

First and formost – ‘There Is A Hell…’ is bonkers. It can only be born of the sort of twisted frustration that most people will never feel or be able to draw inspiration from. It’s one long ferocious blast of youthful and rebellious noise that will make some people want to tear their own ears off, and others sit up and pay attention with curiousity.

Sticking a head out and calling this perfect would be a mistake – as it does tail off a bit towards the end, and as far as metalcore goes, BMTH are still registering at the commercial end of the spectrum so it’ll piss some purists off immediately – but between the borderline-cheesey skyscraper riffs and seventh-level-of-hell grunts, there’s a whole lot to enjoy. Cameos from Lights and Josh Franceschi (You Me At Six) are well executed, and there’s some inspired moments that’ll register with even the most stuck-in-the-mud sceptic.

Every now and again, a record takes you by surprise and you just have to hold your hands up and admit it. ‘There Is A Hell…’ is a sonic bloodbath, plain and simple. Allegedly.

Three more album reviews for you

Fortune Teller – ‘PREMONITIONS’

While She Sleeps - 'SELF HELL'

USA Nails – ‘FEEL WORSE’