Many are debating who is currently holding the torch as the greatest metal band of the 2020’s. But if this, the latest offering from Sheffield’s greatest export is anything to go off, it is only safe to assume that Bring Me The Horizon holds the title. Acting as a sequel album to POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR, NeX GeN is the proof in pudding that BMTH hasn’t just evolved but that they have done it flawlessly and as a result have made it quite clear that they have all perfected their craft.
Kicking things off with literal footsteps [ost] dreamseeker leads us straight into opening track YOUtopia where Oli Sykes welcomes you right into his vision for this album and amazing fuzztones, preaching of his own personal utopia in a dystopian world. Asking us to tap onto ourselves to find our own happy place in a world falling apart at the seams.
Setting the pace and ensuring no signs of slowing down is new fan favorite Kool-Aid. The generational disdain is loud, clear and in your face to the point where you just want to scream it all from a rooftop. The aggression in the delivery of each and every word is empowering and energetic.
Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd blood teaches us that the scars of our pasts don’t always have to be painful and advises us that we can’t always rely on others to validate or redeem us and to look inward and love ourselves.
liMOusIne dishes it out with the first collaboration of many featuring AURORA. This two sided perspective acts as a revenge track of sorts with a killer drum and bass fill bridging the void.
DArkSide continues to drag us deeper into the unbelievable pit of despair that the BMTH collective have created here. Painting a picture of a very fractured and conflicted human being.
There have been many great musical collaborations over the years, but Underoath accompanying on a bulleT w-my namE On just brought the playing field up a whole new level. Bringing a more pop punk element to the table, despite the lyrical content describing looking back on a life of regret and betrayal, this one is uncharacteristically upbeat and concluding with what sounds like subliminal messaging before hitting the halfway mark of this modern magnum opus.
Bringing us to halftime is [ost] (spi)ritual with more of an EDM feel. As far as interval tracks go it broke up the album nicely.
n/A introduces us to frontman Oli Sykes personal demons. Riddled with themes of self-deprecation and suicide, this one definitely isn’t for the faint hearted.
LosT continues to keep the noticeable (but not too overpowering) electronic elements that have been consistent throughout this album very much alive. As the song title suggests we continue down the rabbit hole of seemingly autobiographical mental illness struggles that have been established by the character at the forefront of NeX Gen and the entire concept behind it.
sTraNgeRs continues to address struggling with ones mind. Bringing the loss of ones identity to the table, this track serves as a reminder that even when you’re in a room full of people you can still feel alone.
R.i.p. (duskCOre RemIx) is definitely perfect for recently scorned lovers, setting an aggressive tone for moving on from exes, carrying the narrative of heartbreak straight into AmEN featuring Lil Uzi Vert, Daryl Palumbo and Glassjaw.
[ost] p.u.s.s.-e providing another quick electronic intermission brings us to the final chapter of this epic tale of tragedy.Die4u reads like a love letter doomed to fail, as the black dog takes a hold with no signs of letting go. The pain that inspired this track is not only evident but came from a real truly dark experience.
And to conclude our musical journey Dig It closes out the show with a 7-minute look at the human condition and how sometimes there is no light at the end of the tunnel, whilst dealing with the daunting reality that eventually we all die and sometimes we dont die happy. Cutting to radio silence before some jaunty piano and more subliminal messaging to take us out NeX GEn finishes on a rather confusing note.
In the writing of the 16 tracks that made up this absolute beast of a body of work it was made quite clear from start to finish that it came from the heart, and a place of true pain and despair. And it succeeded in making one feel such emotions throughout. The emotion that emanated from POST HUMAN: NeX Gen makes this a more than worthy contender for one of the greatest rock/metalcore albums to be released in recent memory. It has also proven that the future of Alternative music is not only safe, but has nowhere to go but up.
9/10
