"That's the Spirit" is the 5th studio album by UK metalers Bring me the Horizon and was released in 2015. I first heard Bring me when they released "Follow You" off this album and regularly watched the dramatic video on You tube. Basically, it had lots of things blowing up hence dramatic. But I listened to their other work at the time, and nothing really stuck with me. It felt different at the time, and I wasn't really into to it. That's until they released "Mantra" off "amo" in 2018 and then I started to get into the band proper as "amo" is an excellent album. They then released "Post Human: Survival Horror" which saw them start to collaborate with many artists in 2020. And since then, they have collaborated with many more artists such as Ed Sheeran, Sigrid and Machine Gun Kelly. And at the same time seeing their trajectory in terms of popularity increase more and more by the day.
Now I am starting to go back through the older albums again and to be honest, their earlier albums don't really do it for me. It's very much metalcore meaning growling vocals which don't make for the best listening experience in my opinion. 4th album "Sempiternal" saw them start something a bit different but still sticking to the metalcore roots. "Can you feel my heart?" for example is a terrific song off that album. But "That's the Spirit" in my view was the catalyst for a complete transformation for the band and altered the bands course forever.
The album features Oli Sykes on vocals, Lee Malia on guitars, Jordan Fish on keyboards and programming, Matt Kean on bass and Matt Nicholls on drums. Although not part of the core band there were also additional musicians which featured on many of the tracks on the album through, Will Harvey on violins, Maddie Cutter on cellos and Emma Fisher on backing vocals. Combining all these instruments turned this album into not your typical metal album. The keyboards brought in some electronic elements which shine through brighter than the sun on "Throne" which is an absolute tune. And it's the keyboard intro which really sells it from the outset. I would go as far as saying this is one of my favourite intros to a song end of, it's just that good. Sometimes I wish they would have put in elements of that keyboard in for the rest of the song, but the song still is top tier.
"Happy Song" is another classic. The key to this song is the extra female vocals provided that go "S.P.I.R.I.T, THAT'S THE SPRIRIT" delivered in this fun chant kind of way. Moments like this really set Bring me apart from their peers in the scene. I know I mention the vocals here without mentioning lead singer Oli Sykes vocals. All I can say about his vocals on this album is that he is on total top form. Like on "Follow You" for example is one of those songs which he stretches his vocal range more, than particularly compared to previous albums. "Follow you" is one of those ones that builds nicely and has explosive moments at the right times.
Closing track "Oh no" has a dance feel about it, bringing back those vibes from "Throne" through the electronics. It has a nice vibe to finish the album on. Other worthy tracks worth a mention are "Drown", "Avalanche" and "True Friends". All brilliant. But this really is one of those albums I wouldn't skip a track.
Overall, this is for me, a classic album. Although I wasn't into them when this came out, I can appreciate now that this was a brave move for the band changing their sound so dramatically which may have lost their loyal metalcore fans. But the risk worked and now they are filling arenas and are teetering on being mainstay festival headliners if they haven't already cemented themselves that position already.
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