Review by Saxy S for Bring Me the Horizon - POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR (2020)

Oh Boy

When Bring Me the Horizon released amo early in 2019, I was wondering what direction the band would take their sound next. The band has made subsequent changes over their fifteen years worth of music from deathcore to alternative/pop-rock. With POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR, the crew have adapted a newer, heavier sound that reminds me a lot of early 2000s nu-metal. If you just threw up in your mouth a little bit, I don’t blame you.

Oli’s screams are back and they do help pronounce and enunciate the breakdown passages that are implemented well into the compositions. As a whole, I would consider the composition of this record to be much more focused than amo was, but the group seem to have lost many of their hooks. Sure, you have songs like “Obey”, “Teardrops” and “Parasite Eve”, but I do not remember very much about them beyond that. I do remember the BABYMETAL feature on “Kingslayer” and it made for a pleasant surprise and an album standout. I can hear plenty of Linkin Park worship going on here.

Unfortunately, the sound of this record is lacking. The percussion is janky, the guitars are drenched in modifiers to make them far more processed than they really need to be, and the flipping between sung and screaming vocals is not pulled off with the most graceful detail. Those howls are very strong and peak in the mix. As for the electronics/synths, they are pretty adequate, but do fall victim to the crunchy rhythm guitars that drown them out unless it is one of those high pitched wails.

This record reminded me sonically of the debut album The Sickness by Disturbed; an album that has some hooks that do not stick, very timely nu-metal riffage that has not aged well, and production that would rather just have everything cranked up to eleven to see what might resonate through. If they had added a couple of jockey disc scratches then I wouldn’t be able to tell if this album came out in 2020 or 2001. As a metal album, this has the potential to suffice those depraved fans waiting for the return to records like Sempiternal. But this album feels uninterested in being much more than that.