Why Am I Suddenly Obsessed with Bring Me the Horizon

What even is this. This band came out in 2004, and it's currently the bitter end of 2018. In all those years before they never popped up on my radar, and now every personal mix on YouTube includes at least three of their songs. Though that probably has to do with the number of times I've replayed the entire Semipiternal album. I can't really answer my own question sadly enough, but what I do know is that I'm really happy they did pop up on my suggested videos because their songs are a mood.

'Can You Feel My Heart?'

Bring Me the Horizon, fronted by Oliver Sykes, debuted in 2004 with an EP. Their first album came in 2005 in the UK, and 2006 in the US, and are followed by five others with Amo being the latest. In 2006, I was in seventh grade and heavily invested in My Chemical Romance after they came out with The Black Parade. Beyond them, and my sudden discovery of Heart and Jimi Hendrix...I suppose that accounts for my ignorance to all things Horizon.

So when did this sudden obsession begin?

In October of this year, actually. I was a scare actor in Halloween Horror Nights and, though I probably shouldn't be admitting this, I often listened to music during sets the night to help pass the time along until closing. One night before line up, I was looking for a rock album on YouTube to listen to when Semipiternal popped up. I'll reiterate that I'd never listened to them before but the name did sound familiar, so I gave it a test run and decided to listen to a few seconds of the first song.

The first song on that album is 'Can You Feel My Heart?' I don't know about all that but I sure could feel the power of those yells from Oliver, and the keyboard of Jordan in those first few seconds. Those ten seconds clinched it for me, and I decided to give them a go as I donned a mask and pretended to murder someone for the next forty-five minutes. Luckily the ambient volume in my particular areas was low so I could really pay attention to the guitars, to the lyrics, and I honestly really enjoyed what I heard. From that point on, Semipiternal was an oft choice when I couldn't think of anything else to listen to.

Sleepwalking

It occurred to me some time after maybe the fourth or fifth repeat of Semipiternal that the band probably had more music to offer me. I didn't go searching for full albums at the time, but YouTube had me covered by offering particular songs in those website provided mixes you always get if you're logged in with them. 'Doomed' was a song from That's The Spirit, an album dropped in 2015, and somehow it immediately became my favorite song of all the Horizon songs I'd heard thus far. I mean, those lyrics!

"There must have been some, kind of mistake/I asked for death but instead I'm awake/ The devil told meNo room for cheats. I thought I'd sold my soul, but he kept the receipt."

Tell me that's not straight fire. Then that chorus, just, my god. I think we're doomed? A mood. A really relatable song for a person who, not trying to be depressing or anything, has not had the cheeriest couple of years.

You know what else is a mood if I've ever heard one? 'Happy Song.' The song, from my understanding of it, is literally this person just battling with mental issues among which depression is probably a star player, and half of a verse is spent admitting those painful truths before the ending half just curb stomps all that honesty about mental health with the sort of "walk it off" message that is still present in our time. To be sure talking about this stuff has gotten better but it's nowhere near where it needs to be for some awesome change to start happening at a national level, but, I digress. We're here to talk about music, not politics.

The switch from low singing to aggressive yelling is so perfect for the meaning of this son. Oliver's voice is almost lethargic more than apathetic I'd say, like a person who is really tired of living like a human disaster. Then comes the screaming and blasting riffs everywhere:

"But if we sing along/ a little god damn louder to a HAPPY SONG/ you'll be alright 'cause-"

Don't even pretend there's not a legion of us who don't essentially follow these same tactics because therapists are expensive (unless covered by your insurance) and the following medications you might have to take are even worse. You know what's free though? Using memes to communicate existential suffering and pouring tons of self-loathing into your private karaoke sessions with songs like these.

There's still a lot more of their content for me to sift through if I can be bothered to stop repeating the same ten songs over and over again, but hey I don't like to be rushed and I'm a simple girl. I see something I like, I click. Discovery of more great sings will come in its own time. For now, I'm going to enjoy this newfound love for Bring Me the Horizon and then discover what other bands I've callously neglected because of my music obsessive tendencies.