This album is fast and brutal, invoking elements from thrash, metal, hardcore and somehow making it all catchy. It suffers from a little bit of repetition, but that flaw is overshadowed by the superb musicianship of these British youngsters.
Exile29 said, Bring Me The Horizon is one of those bands that you're either going to love or hate. You're going to think they're amazingly talented, or that a baby could play an instrument better. I've not really heard many opinions on this band that say something to the effect of "Oh...they're OK. Not bad." So, I suppose I'm going to have to fit myself into a category.
Personally, I think BMTH takes a lot of *** for the way they dress and the way they look. In a scene that is way too concerned about looks, the fact that their looks resemble much more "un-metal" bands like Escape The Fate or Silverstein is enough to turn off a lot of listeners. Couple that with the fact that they have lyrics like "Oh, if you need me/I'll be tying a rope to the tree/Where our love used to be" and most hardcore kids are going to be running the other direction.
However, when you actually listen to Count Your Blessings, you'll realize one thing: Damn, these kids can shred.
Xanthx also said, Bring Me The Horizon has released an aggression-filled and technical album that is simply metal as fuck, catching everyone off guard with its sheer brutality, and I don't know what more to say about it except; Bitter, brutal, brilliant, not leaving my head.
Sheffielders Bring Me The Horizon have a lot of people that don't like them because of image. They get put off by thought of how "emo" they THINK they are. From the beginning track of Count Your Blessings (Pray for Plagues) you will be left ashamed at how wrong you were. It is like a brutal kick in the face that leaves you begging for more.
Still with Exile, From the opening track "Pray For Plagues," (one of the strongest songs on the album) it is clear that BMTH are anything but emo. Vocalist Oliver Sykes ranges from high-pitched black metal wails to the classic death-metal cookie monster growls. The guitars are brutal, distorted, and have the kind of fast-paced thrashery that cites influences from Swedish melodic death metal meistros In Flames and At The Gates. From there, on through the rest of the album, Bring Me The Horizon stays pretty true to form. Each track is seemingly more heavy than the last, with at least one breakdown in every song. The guitars stay fast, the drumming stays tight, and the vocals stay harsh. There isn't an ounce of singing anywhere on this record--something that should definitely separate out BMTH from many of their metalcore peers.
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In my opinion, some of the strongest tracks on the album are "Pray For Plagues," "Tell Slater Not To Wash His Dick," "For Stevie Wonder's Eyes Only" and "Off The Heezay." With the song titles and some of the random interludes they have (such as the vocal "dun dun dun" in the background on "Off The Heezay") it is clear that Bring Me The Horizon don't take themselves too seriously. They don't sing about raping girls or going on pillaging or summoning Satan. Most of them are barely out of their knickers, and they're singing about what they know. Girls and partying. Even in "Pray For Plagues," which contains a few lyrical snippets that seem to allude to the Biblical plagues brought upon Egypt, there are still some parts about--you guessed it--girls. The lyrical content may be a little cliche, but it is overshadowed by the sheer brutality and presentation that Bring Me The Horizon has.
However, this album is not without its faults. For all of the breakdowns, heavy riffs, and technical guitar flourishes, this album suffers from a big lack of originality. It is hard for even the most seasoned metal/hardcore listener to differentiate between the tracks. Also, many times the breakdowns seem to be placed in odd areas, and seem to be somewhat pointless, with virtually no lead-in whatsoever. The album is also extremely short. With ten tracks, two instrumentals and a couple songs under the three-minute mark, Count Your Blessings seems to end far too quickly.
Michael Robert give a review about it and also said, I have to admit that I when I first laid eyes on Bring Me The Horizon, I feared the worst. The fashion, the haircuts and the song titles almost had me rolling the eyes in advance, expecting little more than yet another group of upstarts jumping on the metalcore bandwagon. So it was a pleasant surprise then to find that Count Your Blessings is a rather competent debut, if not exactly thrilling. Amid the silly lyrics and typical cut-and-pasting, Bring Me The Horizon has compiled together a cohesive set of songs with a decent metallic bite. It’s derivative, but if you aren’t tired of metalcore yet, you may find Count Your Blessings an above-average entry in the genre.
To be more specific about Bring Me The Horizon’s sound, these guys basically combine European, melodic death metal with black metal-styled vocals and a smattering of slow-and-heavy breakdowns. The songwriting is a bit choppy, but considering the youth of the band that’s a small criticism. Songs tend to halt and change a bit randomly – especially early on – with a lack of flow between the speed sections, breakdowns, mid-paced runs etc, but pleasingly this does improve as the album goes along. Case in point, closing track “Off the Heezay”. It’s easily one of the strongest and tightest cuts on Count Your Blessings, and given that it caps off the album’s brisk 36-min running time, it’s a positive indication of where BMTH are heading in terms of their songwriting.
Another aspect of this band you may appreciate is that like a lot of recent bands, there’s a far higher metal-to-core ratio going on with BMTH. The fact that screamer Oli Sykes never once breaks out into clean singing is something I’m truly grateful for. Sticking to very high-pitched shrieks, deep death growls and a bit of hardcore shouting, Sykes sounds like he’s about to cough up his viscera at any given moment. Musically, BMTH is on par with most bands peddling this style at the moment, with some nice guitar flourishes that owe much to the ever-present Gothenburg influence. As for production, Count Your Blessings has a bouncy, bass-heavy sound which is satisfying enough but a little too clean for my liking.
Count Your Blessings is certainly no masterpiece, but it’s an impressive debut from a young band in an extremely saturated genre. The album may be low on originality but there is enough quality to the songcraft here to indicate that Bring Me The Horizon have real potential, if they can only stick around long enough to follow up. That will be the band’s litmus test and hopefully a sign of reassurance for the more jaded among us that there’s life in the old ‘core yet.
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Xanthx also said, BMTH could have fooled me. With the name and the looks and the very traditional emo/core rise to power the opening riff and scream is bound to feel like a truck running 160 km/h just appearing out of nowhere and leveling the unwary listener. As if to make a statement about how metal this band actually is, the song continues to hammer at your ears with lightspeed thrash and vocals changing between aggresive screaming and brutal growling. Frontman Oliver Sykes sound a bit like Matt from Avenged Sevenfold did back on "Sounding The Seventh Trumpet" era, only more angry and more out of control, while whoever does the growls could have easily been the same person doing them on I Killed The Prom Queen's "Music For The Recently Deceased". "Tell Slater Not To Wash His Dick" continues along the same lines as the opener, and clues you in on the one thing about BMTH that might be considered a bit emo. That being the impression that at some point some girl(s) must have severely trampled some band member(s)' feelings, because lyrics on this record are mostly bitter, hateful and relentless assaults on some unknown 'bitch', demonstrated beyond any doubt on tracks like "For Stevie Wonders Eyes Only (which also goes by the name of 'Braile')" as well as on "(I Used To Make Out With) Medusa". Critical voices have mentioned, that this album might not be the most varied album ever, but while listening to it, the similarity of the tracks never really struck me as a downside. Maybe it's subjective, but I for one can easily endure AND enjoy the nine tracks of bitter thrash/hardcore/metalcore presented to me here, as it just seems to be delivered so God damn well and convincingly. And yes, I write nine tracks, because for some reason, the ninth track of the ten present is a two-minute acoustic instrumental piece, that will, by the time you get to it, sooth your ears, just before the final onslaught of "Off The Heezay". Again, I think it's rather subjective if you feel this kind of 'interlude' is fitting or annoying. I for one don't find it nearly as annoying as some of the stunts other metalcore bands have pulled off in the past, and to me, it does nothing to ruin my overall impression of the CD.
All in all, this is an album that will appeal to a wide range of listeners, and it is easy to see why Bring Me The Horizon have gained all the popularity that they have. Granted, some of said popularity may be due to the "hotness" of the lead singer, but that shouldn't take away from the massive amount of potential that this band has. It's unclear whether or not the generic deathcore formula is going to allow for any longevity out of this band, but for now, they've succeeded with a strong debut.
Tracks
- Pray For Plagues
- Tell Slater Not To Wash His Dick
- For Stevie Wonder's Eyes Only (Braille)
- A Lot Like Vegas
- Black and Blue
- Slow Dance
- Liquor and Love Lost
- (I Used To Make Out With) Medusa
- Fiftheen Fathoms Counting
- Off The Heezay
- Eyeless (Bonus Track)
If you like it, please buy it on their official website/merchandise.
Count Your Blessing
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Count Your Blessing
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