Bring Me the Horizon- Metalcore From Britain
By extra. Filed in Art & Photography |
Bring Me the Horizon is a British band from Sheffield, Yorkshire that is categorized under the metalcore category. Like many bands, it hopes to eventually take a spot in the international music merch scene. It remains to be seen though whether the group will manage to break out.
The band’s name isn’t a complete unknown. Movie fans would recognize it as a line from Captain Jack Sparrow, “Now bring me that horizon,” from the popular movie Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. For a metalcore group, the name seems a bit whimsical but fans don’t even seem to care.
Band History and Studio Albums Released
The story behind Bring Me the Horizon is neatly divided into three parts. The first part is from 2004 to 2007 and marks their early years. The group came to be in 2004, after members of local music groups came together. Oliver Sykes took on lead vocals. He was joined by Matt Nicholls on percussions, Lee Malia on lead guitar, Matt Kean on bass guitar and Curtis Ward on rhythm guitar. When Ward decided to leave the group, Jona Weinhofen filled in and also handled vocals, programming and keyboards.
The debut album Count Your Blessings came out in 2006 in the United Kingdom. It took nearly a year for the album to come out in the United States. In 2007, the band participated in the Download Festival. They saw more action when they toured with such notable artists as Killswitch Engage, Lostprophets, I Killed the Prom Queen, The Haunted and The Blackout.
The second period of the band’s history from 2008 to 2009 saw some major changes to the group’s lineup. In 2009, Curtis Ward went his own way and Jona Weinhofen jumped onboard two months after. This was supposed to be a temporary arrangement for a couple of months but Weinhofen was eventually recognized as an official band member in mid 2009.
Around this period, the group came up with the second Bring Me the Horizon album. The release of Suicide Season met with better reception than the first release. This was mainly because the second album took on a more metalcore approach than the first one. It went on to take the 28th slot in the Australian ARIA Albums chart.
Near the end of 2009, the group released the remix version of their album under the title, Suicide Season: Cut Up! This version was a collaborative work among various individuals including Shawn Crahan, Ben Weinman and Sonny Moore. Hence, it features various musical elements including hip hop.
The band’s third phase is from last year to this year. It is expected to be punctuated by the summer 2010 release of the third Bring Me the Horizon album. This is one definite development that fans await.
Band Awards
This British metal core band has reaped accolades and criticisms too in their native land. Among the accolades heaped on Bring Me the Horizon are the 2006 Kerrang! Award for Best British Newcomer as well as the Rock Sound Best British Band and the Best Album for Suicide Season. It was also voted the 2008 Worst Band by the Kerrang! Readers’ poll and the album Suicide Season as the Worst Album by the Rock Sound readers’ poll. It only shows just how fickle the fans and the music industry can be.
Despite mixed reception however, the group has showed no signs of throwing the towel. There may be a couple more years of getting featured on band posters for this young group.
