10/30 That's The Spirit

“This album is a celebration of the darkness, because everything may seem bleak & black on the outside, but inside us all is a world of colour & emotion that we NEED to let take over & not ignore,” 

-Oli Sykes 

Happy Song opens with the almost cult-like chants of cheerleaders at a pep-rally, "S.P.I.R.I.T. Spirit let's hear it! S.P.I.R.I.T. Spirit, let's hear it! Let's go!" While an interesting way to start the song, this is not what got fans attention when the first real single from That's The Spirit was released. Rather, it was the fact that this sarcastically cheerful song was completely devoid of what made every other album, there was no screaming. As more singles released, it became more and more obvious that this album was entirely different from anything Bring Me The Horizon had done before. There was no screaming, no growling, no almost demonic shrieks. Instead, there was singing. Even more, there was a sense of hope.

The four albums preceding That's The Spirit, are filled with chaotic anger and sadness, they manage to portray a certain darkness that sticks in the back of our mind. There are constant themes of pain, depression, anger, death and suicide. There is nothing light, nothing even remotely cheerful in the these albums. The utter growling screams of Oli Sykes let loose every awful thing one could think and it's obvious that this was not merely an act. Things seemed hopeless.

In 2014, fans were let in on the secret of how real this pain and anger was. It was something much more then screaming at the top of your lungs could ever cure. At the AP Music Awards, Bring Me The Horizon won best album for their 4th release, Sempiternal. Lead vocalist, Oli Sykes, shocked the entire crowd, including me, with his acceptance speech, "Before Sempiternal....I was a fucking drug addict. I was addicted to a drug called Ketamine. I was on it for years and I was fucked off my head. My band wanted to kill me, my parents wanted to kill me and my fucking brother wanted to kill me," (AP). Ketamine let's the user escape reality. He had been to rehab more then once, and has managed sobriety since then. Things began to look up. They were and still are on a good path. The band brought in a new member, Jordan Fish, who with his synth and songwriting has greatly helped create the new sound for That's The Spirit. But what most pushed it most was Sykes desire for something new, "When I got out of that rehab I didn't want to fucking scream anymore, I wanted to sing it from the fucking rooftops." 

That's The Spirit marks a new time for Bring Me The Horizon. It is one where they are no longer angry teenagers, no longer ruled by drug addiction or excessive alcohol use. They've grown up, progressed, they've come into this new sound. For once in Bring Me The Horizon's career, there is hope on the horizon. Just as they say the album is a celebration of darkness, what they've been through. It's a much a celebration as what's to come. It a celebration of the light. They've carried this concept through everything in the album from the lyrics, artwork, marketing etc. Opening the stark black box that album is encased in revels this brilliant swirl of colors resembling oil mixing in water. Just that simple act, opening the dark to revel the light leads us into the album.

From there, Sykes voice shows us even more the color laying inside, that hope that is starting to bubble up to the surface. Even though the dark is still shown lyrically within songs such as Avalanche, "Am I broken? What's the chance I will survive? Don't sugarcoat me, cause I feel like suicide." Drown and What You Need, reflect similar lyrics, "What doesn't kill you, makes you wish you were dead". But the first song, Doomed truly sums up the feeling of the album.

So leave the light on, I'm coming home

It's getting darker, but I'll carry on

The sun don't shine, but it never did

And when it rains, it fucking pours

But I think I like it

And you know that I'm in love with the mess

I think I like it

 Just those few lines, show that flicker of hope that seems to grow slowly as the album continues. By the end that bright swirl of color makes sense. It's hasn't completely overcome the mix of black within it, but it stands out brighter then ever before. Sykes vocals give you something to finally be able to sing to, something to follow in that search for hope.

So let's sing along a little fucking louder, and maybe we'll be alright.

Happy Song / That's The Spirit