i have also never listened to anything else in their catalog but dig this a fuck ton. anything else in their back catalog that resembles this?
You can definitely see the progression from the last several albums, starting with that’s the spirit and perhaps even sempiternal, but it’s not very linear. Anything pre-sempiternal will feel pretty foreign. Even the growling/screaming from that time are very different (though the return of those elements is very welcomed imo). Some of the pop sensibilities from That’s the Spirit and Sempiternal are present but the songwriting is so much more expansive and consistent here that I’m not sure how newcomers would think of them. Definitely worth a shot though - the last several records have been full of hits and misses but you’ll be able to see the progression and still plenty of good songs across all of em.
Please don’t listen to and promote this shitty band with their piece of shit frontman and other enabler members.
Closest is Survival Horror. This works better as a piece of music, but Survival Horror has some truly earth shattering moments. Amo is divisive, but I really love it. Probably their most divisive. Sempiternal and Survival Horror share the most DNA with this, but they are a really interesting band to follow, cause they can’t be pinned down to one thing.
Insane take here but *maybe* people are capable of separating the art from the artist. If you aren't, that's okay but there's nothing wrong with discussing their music positively.
it’s easier to act morally superior for not listening to certain music as if that’s actually doing anything to help anyone
Exactly. Always rubs me the wrong way. Like, do these people want bonus points for trying to virtue signal a bunch of Bring Me the Horizon fans... in the Bring Me the Horizon thread?
I already posted my thoughts on it earlier but yeah it’s starting to get really annoying but honestly I’ve begun to get pretty liberal with that block button so it is what it is, I know what I believe in and stand for and I know what’s wrong and what’s right but I also understand simply listening to music is not a form of like…power for good or bad. I think Oli is a piece of shit who probably did the things he’s accused of but I also don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it lol and I personally am able to listen to someone’s music even if I know they’ve done horrible things and it’s FINE if it’s too much for other people but there’s no need to act like im somehow doing something wrong because it’s not too much for me? if any of that makes sense idk im just rambling. didn’t wanna get into this again and deleted like three posts I originally made and I’ll probably regret posting this one too but whatever I just find it ridiculous lately
I don’t want to excuse any of his behavior or horrendous things he’s done. I always struggle with separating the art from the artist too. But it’s really hard as an addict to not put his addiction and the themes on here into perspective. It could be bullshit and a cover for all I know, I don’t know shit, but it’s hard not to relate to some of the things on here.
I do think it’s interesting that BMTH, especially on this site, always sorta escaped the level of criticism other bands got, sometimes even for lesser offenses. I can’t really explain it, nor can I really explain why I continued to listen to them more than others. Humans are very messy when it comes to morals. I think it’s ok to separate art from artist, especially when a *lot* of time has passed, but I also think there’s value to a community uniformly showing it won’t support bad behavior. All of that is to say, im not sure what the right answer is, or rather why I’m not doing it, and part of me does indeed feel bad about continuing to listen, but well, here I am. FWIW, I will say that it always bugged me when folks would say “just listen to other bands,” which was a very common thing to read during brand new’s implosion (ironically enough, haven’t listened to them since). We’re on all this site because we find things we need in certain bands that we don’t get from others and we’d all agree there are few things more frustrating than losing a connection like that. Maybe our conscience should supersede that but alas, sometimes it just doesn’t.
I feel like a lot of BMTH's music is about trying to be a better person and struggling with hurting people or letting people down. It makes sense that it's made by someone who's far from perfect. I personally can relate to that and don't think it's really even separating the art from the artist, it's just engaging with the art of an artist who has done bad things. I can see why some people would choose to avoid that and there's definitely people out there whose art I don't want to spend any of my time on but I also don't really care what anyone else chooses to listen to or watch. I'm sure people can make up their own minds.
New favorite bit: the last chorus of RIP, when Oli sings “you and me are DONE,” I can’t explain it but I hear a bit of early 90’s Michael Jackson STANK in his voice.