Given the status of 2020; pandemic, world leaders not really acting as leaders, panic everywhere, some individuals acting on their own selfish needs, we could go on, it should come as no shock to anyone that politically-charged and angry songs will come out of it. And that’s exactly what we got with Bring Me The Horizon’s newly released EP; a protest soundtrack to go alongside an uncertain time period.
Post Human opens with Dear Diary, which starts off with distorted white noise, then the heavy instruments kick in that gradually build-up with volume. You’re drawn in, just as frontman, Oli Sykes, starts screaming out his frustrations. It’s at this point you know; Bring Me The Horizon are back, and they are loud and they are angry. The song itself tells a story of someone’s mental decline as the world around them is destroyed in a apocalypse; “I'm going braindead, isolated. God is a shithead and we're his rejects.” The final minute reverts to being distorted as the insanity overcomes then once they realise the truth of what’s going on; “Kinda sad my whole entire existence been a waste. Ah, nevermind, it's not the end of the world, oh, wait.”
It fits in perfectly with following track Parasite Eve, an atmospheric and, honestly, theatrical track that can be the anthem of the pandemic. Although originally inspired by the video game of the same name, it provides an accurate commentary of the current state of world as the track goes through many musical styles and vocals from operatic to heavy instrumentals, rough and clean vocals. Sykes himself goes through the many mixed feelings of what we’ve felt so far, from fear to hope to yearning for communication, alongside female vocalist, Alissa Salls, who tells us; “Please remain calm, the end has arrived. We cannot save you. Enjoy the ride.” To summarise the story of the track; “When we forget the infection, will we remember the lesson?”
Teardrops is just as dark; a commentary on a generation growing up in a strange time and dealing with a culture surrounding mental health and suicide. A commentary on how we can be encouraged to speak up yet once we do, we are demonised and told to ‘suck it up’; “Suicidal, violent, tragic state of mind. Lost my halo, now I'm my own anti-christ.” So instead we feel like we must hold it in; “Nothing makes me sadder than my head”.
We then move past the dark commentary to the more upbeat, if you want to call it that, Obey. We meet the first out of four collaborations of this EP; fellow Yorkshire native Yungblud. Obey is a commentary on the current political climate where we watch world leaders do horrible things, yet we are expected to stand by and watch; “Obey, we hope you have a lovely day”. Well, no more, we won’t stand for this any longer; “You monsters are people.” As the two of them put it; “You don’t want us to come out and play.” All we can say is we cannot wait to see this perform live, just imagine the pits!
Itch For The Cure (When Will We Be Free) is only a minute and thirty second long track that plays as an intro for Kingslayer. It’s distorted and you are drawn in as Sykes chimes in with low, fast vocals. You’re intrigued by what he has to say as he repeats the phrase, “When will we be free?” Then Babymetal chimes in; “I wanna be a kingslayer.” We know what we’re in for.
Kingslayer…just wow. To put it simply: it’s an epic track that is the perfect blend of J-pop and heavy metal, even if you didn’t read the track listing and see Babymetal as one of the features you already know that they are present for this song. It’s the type of track you can picture being used for the intro of an epic anime about an uprising against an oppressive kingdom. The contrast and collaboration between Sykes rough vocals, “Get the fuck up, wake the fuck up. Wipe the system and back the fuck up” and Su-Metal’s clean vocals, “Kingslayer, destroying castles in thе sky. Kingslayer, forevermore the apple of my eye,” works so well and is simply insane. There’s a rumour that Babymetal might open for Bring Me The Horizon’s tour next year, we hope this is true as can you imagine the power they would hold.
Calming down for the next track 1x1, a story of feeling guilty when looking at what humanity has done to other species, individuals and the world. “So I ask myself, when will I learn? I'd set myself on fire to feel the burn. I'm scared that I'm never gonna be repaired.” Sykes has talk about how the song comes from being in quarantine and being left alone with your thoughts, you remember all of the awful things you’ve done and you feel nothing but shame; “Disconnected from the world again. And no, the sun don't shine in the place I've been.” Rock duo, Nova Twins, are featured on this track and lead vocalist, Amy Love, is simply stunning during her verse. The whole track is stunning. Listen to it now.
It blends perfectly with following track Ludens, a song written for the post-apocalyptic videogame, Death Stranding. This track perfectly reflects the Dystopian theme as it comments on the actions of humanity; “Some resist the future, some refuse the past. Either way, it's messed up if we can't unplug the fact that a world covered in cables was never wired to last”. A criticism in how we are responsible for the environmental state of the world. It’s atmospheric and stunning. No other words are needed
As we head to the final track, One Day the Only Butterflies Left will be in Your Chest as You March to Your Death, we are left with a haunting ballad between Oli and Amy Lee, a conversation between Mother Nature and humanity. Lee begs us to take care of the world whilst there’s still time while Oli comes to the realisation that change needs to happen or else. It’s beautiful and heart-wrenching, nothing else needs to be said apart from plug in your headphones and sit in a quiet place to listen. An incredible end to an incredible EP.
Post Human: Survival Horror is very much a return to Bring Me The Horizon’s “There is a Hell...” era whilst still ever-experimenting with new sounds and styles as we’ve now come to expect from them. It’s exciting, loud and angry. We knew that protest songs were expected from quarantine and Bring Me The Horizon delivered. All we can say is that this album is incredible, and you need to listen to it. Now!
