Shropshire Star

Review: Bring Me The Horizon, Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham

For Bring Me The Horizon things were never straightforward.

Published

Consistently chastised from each scene they found themselves placed within, it wasn't until the release of Sempiternal in 2012 that the band started being taken seriously and making their strong and direct route towards rocks top table.

It's with that in mind that sees the band undertaking their biggest headline tour to date in support of latest release That's The Spirit.

Opening the evening were Ipswich emo rockers Basement, whose brand of melodic punk got the night off to a great start, and possibly gave the bill a sense of credibility that both Bring Me The Horizon and fellow support Don Broco have lost over recent years due to their willingness to explore a more pop based sound.

Don Broco do well however to truly warm the crowd up, highlighting songs from latest release Automatic such as Money Power Fame and Nerve'to an ever growing audience and demonstrating that in a few years time it could be themselves headlining these giant rooms.

Since the release of debut album Count Your Blessings back in 2006, Bring Me The Horizon have always led the way in terms of the metal core scene in the UK before moving towards a more alternative rock sound on later releases that has seen them rise up festival bills and the size of venues grow and grow. And it's perhaps the fact that they seem more than comfortable in the vast cavernous space that is the Barclaycard Arena that is most astounding.

Not only that, but the band also look the happiest and most at ease they ever have despite lead vocalist Oliver Sykes talking about how within this year he has lost both his wife and a friend before performing Doomed.

Not only do they have massive songs such as Throne and Happy Song up their sleeves, but couple this with some of the most engaging and visceral visuals, then you've got a band that are knocking at the door of the old school festival headliners to show them how the new school do it.

With the majority of material being taken from both Sempiternal and That's The Spirit, there's only an airing of Chelsea Smile from 2008's Suicide Season to highlight the band of old. It could be argued that this track falls redundant now in a set made up of newer songs, however it's still on tracks such as this and House Of Wolves where Oli delivers screaming vocals that his talents really shine rather than on more clean tracks such as Doomed and Follow You where he is really carried by backing vocalists.

With a performance that's full of bells and whistles, Bring Me The Horizon prove that arena rock is in a healthy state and is perhaps becoming a different beast entirely.

By Dan Earl

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