Bring Me The Horizon vocalist Oli Sykes has given an intimately reflective interview to Revolver, not only discussing the band’s next installment in their ‘Post Human‘ quadrilogy, but also his troubled past and more recent struggles with substance abuse that led him to his current state of sobriety.
Amid the conversation, Sykes opened up about relapsing during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He eventually once again sought treatment and therapy after his wife found out. Now a year sober with more clarity than he has had on the situation in the past, he has been channeling his own personal growth into the band’s new music.
To that end, the outfit have already been in the studio with several collaborators, none of whom he was prepared to reveal as of yet. Speaking of where the band are headed musically, he said that this upcoming follow-up to “Post Human: Survival Horror” is about “drawing a parallel between recovery as a planet, and a society, and my recovery as a drug addict.”
He also opened up about how the current hyperpop genre has inspired him on this new record, offering:
“The scene inspired me in the same way as when we were doing our music at first. It were kind of like this sugar-rushed version of metal and hardcore, making this crazy, dissonant, noisy music. … That’s what these kids are doing now in pop … pushing the sound to its extreme. Obviously I didn’t wanna jack its style and … look like these old dudes making this young music, but just that frantic energy and that chaotic feeling, we took a while to inject it to just the right level.”
Those worried about the band once again genre-jumping wholeheartedly though shouldn’t be too concerned however, as Sykes has gained perspective on the band’s past deep dives, including 2019’s “amo“, telling the aforementioned publication of that record:
“To be honest, I think we lost sight of the things that made us special, and why people fell in love with us in the first place. I’m a lot more proud to be in a rock band than I was five years ago. It used to piss me off, rock music, and I openly said that. I just felt like it was dead.”
With those sentiments in mind, Sykes has expressed his interest now maintaining a more distinct balance for their musical output, offering:
“It’s rare to find a band, who, when they get bigger and more mainstream, make sure to retain the harder elements … that made them big in the first place. That’s what we’re trying to do now: retain those extreme elements … but at the same time push ourselves and evolve. Let’s keep the screaming. Let’s keep the breakdown. Let’s keep the fast drumming. Let’s see what happens if we make pop music but still keep all those elements in there.”
You can read a lot more on the band’s new music, Sykes‘ mental health struggles, his current rode back to sobriety and more over at Revolver.
