Album Review: Bring Me The Horizon - There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret

With their 2008 release, 'Suicide Season', Bring Me The Horizon exceeded expectations as it delivered a more developed and progressive sound then to the bands previous grindcore/metalcore material. 'There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret' continues this trend and picks off where they left off. Opening with the intriguing 'Cruicfy Me', with its tinkered female vocal samples, the five-piece quickly set the standard with superb guitar work from Lee Malia whilst Oli Sykes's vocals scream out for attention, creating a concise opener.

On the surface 'There Is A Hell...' is your regular metalcore album, however BMTH pull off the genre well and are not afraid to shake things up. Throughout the band make good use of other elements such as strings; 'Don't Go' in comparison to most of the bands catalogue, is calm and this change in direction is appreciated. Electronic elements can be heard in the powerful 'Home Sweet Hole', although the bands sharp guitars dominate here.

Throughout calm, harmonic interludes adds to the albums flowness and to an extent, give the listener a break from the bands fierce, aggressive sound. 'Memorial' seeps nicely into 'Blessed With A Curse' and provides an intense atmosphere before the band burst with thriving guitars and heavy drums.

Musically, the band are on top form from start to finish, as each member brings out their best; for example the thrashing guitars on 'Fuck' are powerful and have plenty of bite to them. 'Anthem' sees Sykes vocals taking centre stage, as the track is made for a live environment, as he screams "Get the fuck up!". Whilst the bass-heavy 'Visions' gives the track a hard yet rounded finish,

If 'Suicide Season' didn't prove the bands doubters wrong, then 'This Is A Hell...' definitely will, as it is a record that has hardly any flaws; for some the metalcore style may seem slightly repetitive. However the bands musicianship, structure and the overall production means Bring Me The Horizon are here to stay and will continue to grow, as 'This Is A Hell...' takes the bands metalcore and develops it and experiments with it. While it doesn't quite re-invent the genre, is a step in the right direction.

4/5

'There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret' by Bring Me The Horizon is released this week on Visible Noise (UK) and Epitaph Records (US).

Bring Me The Horizon on MySpace, Purevolume, Twitter and Facebook.

Sean Reid