Bring Me The Horizon vocalist Oli Sykes is the featured guest on the latest episode of the Nik Nocturnal Podcast. The British alternative metal star had much to say about his band’s decision to re-record their 2006 debut album “Count Your Blessings” during this chat. That deathcore-oriented affair helped put the group on the map. But it was ultimately their gradual shift into more melodic alternative metal territory that cemented them as the arena headliners of today.
As such, the band’s continued creative evolution over the years has sparked a bit of a divide with early fans. That friction may soon wind up being reversed in a sense, with the move to revisit this disparate chapter of their past posing a potential backlash from newer fans of the group. It’s possible that those fans may be alienated by this re-recording, having been more accustomed to the group’s modern, more commercially-friendly output.
In addition to discussing re-learning how to scream for the record, admitting discussions took place at one point to possibly changing some of the lyrics that didn’t age well, and in general discussing the band’s mindset at the time, Sykes also elaborated on what led the group to ultimately re-record the album. He said of the latter [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“I think a lot of people think that we hate that record or are embarrassed about it, ’cause we don’t play it and stuff, but really we were just always disappointed with how it sounded. Like, I remember we weren’t stoked on it at all when we came out of the studio. We hadn’t… it was a small band. We didn’t have much budget. We wanted to go with, like, Adam D [Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage] or someone that could help us make this record cool. We ended up going with some guy [Dan Sprigg.] The only thing he’d done is — no disrespect to him; I’m sure he’s a good producer in his own field, but he’d done Simply Red. That was his previous credit.
So Simply Red to Bring Me deathcore album is just, like, ‘All right.’ And it was just, we had no idea what we were doing. We didn’t know anything about click tracks, about panning guitars left and right. We had no idea about anything. It was our first time. And he didn’t really either, in terms of a metal band. I think I got ill halfway through it, so around about track five, it just starts to sound like I’ve been singing through a sock. We were getting drunk all the time. No one even sat in with each other when we were recording. So everyone just went in and did their parts. No one was going, ‘Wait a minute, Matt, that’s a bit out of time.’ So it’s just… And you can hear that.”
I remember putting the CD on in the car, and I had this huge subwoofer in the back of the car. We used to listen to All Shall Perish ‘Wage Slaves‘. I remember it just sounded insane on that. So we’d always get in my car and listen to stuff, and it would just be, like, sick. I’d put ‘Count Your Blessings‘ on, and I was, like, ‘Oh, it just doesn’t sound good.’ I remember just driving home going, ‘This does not sound good.’ And I don’t think I ever listened to it ever again, ’cause I was just so unhappy with it. And I think over the years and stuff, I obviously just never really revisited it. We play the odd song sometimes, but…”
The group enlisted the talents of Buster Odeholm (of Vildhjarta, thrown and Humanity’s Last Breath) fame to mix this new ‘reconstruction’ of the record, with Sykes saying:
“We just wanted to go with who’s doing that today. But actually, we also realized no one’s doing that music today. So even Buster himself, I wouldn’t say he struggled, but the first mix was, like, his classic mix. And the snare: huge, the kick: huge. The riffs kind of like so much gain, you can hardly hear them. And it sounded sick. Don’t get me wrong, it sounded way better, it sounded cool. But we were, like, ‘We can’t have this record sounding like what bands sound like today. It needs to be the best version of what it sounded like in 2006.’
So the kick has to be clickier, more triggered. The snare needs to be nice and pingy. It can be fat on the breakdowns. The riffs have to actually be clear. ‘Cause the whole album’s just riffs. For a lot of it, there’s more riffs than vocals. So you need to hear them riffs, ’cause if you’re not hearing them, it’s pointless.”
As for the upcoming live 20th anniversary shows the band have planned for the album. At least one of their initial July 10th-11th headlining shows at the B.E.C. Arena in Manchester, UK are expected to be filmed. That concert will feature opening sets from Static Dress, Dying Wish, Heriot, Rolo Tomassi, Car Underwater and Still In Love, and is being presented by ‘Outbreak Fest‘. Sykes confirmed that despite the band’s elevated status these days, those shows will not feature a barricade, but rather an alternate additional stage to allow for stage diving and the like. When asked by Nocturnal if there really was no barricades planned at the shows, Sykes responded:
“Not only no barricade, there’s actually an extra stage before the stage that you can get on and like just stage dive off [of], run on, mosh on. Basically these guys put on a festival called ‘Outbreak‘ in England. It’s like super iconic festival. It’s like mainly hardcore stuff, hardcore metal. It’s a really cool festival. So we’ve kind of like, they partnered up with us to do it, and that’s their thing. They have this no barricade. I’m hoping it’s as crazy as the shows I’ve seen.”
He continued:
“We’re going to film it. I think we’re actually, like, we’ve talked about it. We need to put out some kind of like pre-safety video like, ‘this is the deal, look after each other, be safe, but also this can and will happen.’ So, yeah, pick where you want to stand basically ’cause it could get a bit lairy.”
He went on to say of the lack of barricades at an arena show:
“I’m like lowkey don’t even know how it’s legal. But like I’m like, ‘what are the rules and stipulations of like how this works?’ ‘Cause like they can basically… I mean and and they’ll get kicked off, but they can just walk on stage if they want. Do you know what I mean?”
Sykes also said in the chat that since becoming the father to twins last year, he has pushed for the band to have shorter legs of touring so he can spend more time with his family and be there for his children. “Count Your Blessings – Repented” is scheduled to be released on July 10th. Thus far, confirmed 20th anniversary live shows celebrating it include:
07/10 Manchester, UK – B.E.C. Arena (feat. Static Dress, Dying Wish, Heriot, Rolo Tomassi, Car Underwater and Still In Love)
07/11 Manchester, UK – B.E.C. Arena (feat. Static Dress, Dying Wish, Heriot, Rolo Tomassi, Car Underwater and Still In Love)
10/11 Birmingham, AL – Furnace Fest
