Count Your Blessings - Bring Me The Horizon
When I began brainstorming on the Bring Me the Horizon | In Review series, I knew that it meant having to come back to Count Your Blessings before the Repented version releases in July, and it filled me with jolts of excitement. Count Your Blessings, released in 2006 (2007 in the US), was always in my top three favorite BMTH albums, with specific tracks remaining on my playlists, but full re-listens increasingly becoming rare over time. Interestingly, Count Your Blessings is one of the most controversial albums in the band’s discography, not just with fans, but also the Metal community at large. Upon release, the Metal community did not embrace this record, with the band getting harassed and having items thrown at them during shows in their early days. Years removed from initial release, the record is now seen in a more positive light and considered one of the most influential Deathcore records of the modern era – a trend that will repeat itself with the next couple of Bring Me the Horizon releases, and something that is easy to pinpoint when listening back all these years later.
Sonically, Count Your Blessings is batshit and wild in the best ways possible. Oil’s vocals are raw and unhinged and have a sound we’ll likely never really hear again, though we shouldn’t, since he was performing in a way that was physically causing him damage – something that would later impact his vocal style and eventually cause severe damage in 2019, forcing him to rehab and focus on proper technique. Luckily, this worked out for the best, as his vocals on more recent BMTH tracks sound much more polished and less like they’re causing him pain/lifetime damage. Aside from the ferocious vocals, the album is filled to the brim with breakneck drumming, pinch harmonics galore, and bone-crunching breakdowns. Melody isn’t found in the vocals but instead found in some of the guitar solos and the instrumental interlude “Fifteen Fathoms, Counting,” which serves as a nice breather after the chaos so far and before diving into the crazed track, “Off the Heezay”. The record relies on not the most intricate/difficult guitar riffs, but riffs that are simple and get the job done, and get stuck in your ears. The drumming and Oli’s chaotic vocals feel like the driving force for much of the album, and are trickier to execute compared to the guitars, but don’t let that discount the iconic guitar writing.
Deciding on my favorite tracks is really tough this time around. On any given day, my list could change slightly, but here are my current picks as of this writing: “Pray for Plagues,” “Medusa,” “Tell Slater Not to Wash His Dick,” the cover of “Eyeless,” and “Braille.” The “Pray for Plagues” intro alone is worth the price of admission. It pulls you into the chaos immediately, slamming a foot on the pedal and not letting up until you get to “Fifteen Fathoms, Counting”. The riff and drumming are iconic to the point that if you hear the intro, you know exactly what track it is. To be fair, this song definitely was one of the first that would play on your friend’s MySpace page back in the day, so we’ve all heard it plenty of times. The outro especially goes hard, with the pummeling double-kick and low, guttural growls. “Braille”’s intro is an all-out force of nature that leads into an iconic set of vocals, “I whispered in her ear, fear me dear for I am death,” that are impossible not to scream along to. “Medusa” is a monster of a song, complete with blast beats, killer lead guitar riffs, a moment for the bass to shine, and some of Oli’s most visceral screaming and lowest growls yet. There’s even a fun guitar solo before the song swoops back down into the depths of insanity. The breakdown is especially slow and brutal, and just when you think it’s done, it comes back around to beat you down. Now, if you have the special Hot Topic release of the record, then you also have track 11, which is the cover of Slipknot’s “Eyeless.” This is easily an all-time cover that I’m still disappointed isn’t on streaming. However, I hope that’s rectified with the unnamed track 11 that’s listed on Repented. The cover keeps the spirit of the original, which was already heavy as fuck, but the band somehow finds a way to make it even heavier. Oli’s vocals on this cover are unironically my favorite from him, reaching new heights of brutality between the highs and lows. I don’t think I’ve ever heard his high screams sound this high or raw, but I’m a huge fan. The rest of the band also stepped up to the challenge, delivering one of the best Slipknot covers of all time. The ending breakdown is even slower and heavier than the original!
This In Review series is offering me opportunities to dive deeper into the background of the records, recording process, and impact, among other things. I’m able to have better context that gives me a greater appreciation for what I’m listening to – Something I didn’t care a whole lot about as a teenager. When I started digging into Count Your Blessings, I was disappointed to learn how quickly the band disowned this record. Shortly after Suicide Season was released, they started to decrease the number of songs they’d play live from the record, until it reached a point where you’d rarely hear those songs again. Several members of the band have even been outspoken about how much they disliked the record and had no desire to write that kind of music again. Jordan Fish (who joined the band six years after Count Your Blessings was released) claimed that part of the reason the band didn’t really play music like that anymore was that they no longer listened to Deathcore and had grown up as musicians. I hope that this re-release in July is not only the band coming to terms with their roots and honoring them properly, but also another turning point where they can start to incorporate some of that Deathcore sound into future releases. Perhaps they enjoyed the process more this time around, and with Oli’s updated vocal approach not killing his vocal cords, it could offer some inspiration. This is me just being hopeful, though, as I’ve missed the Deathcore sound. I won’t say I’m still one of the people bitching about their new sound (I can just go back and listen to the heavier records if I want), but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some nostalgia for the old sound – a sound I felt they did justice and were wrongfully treated like shit over. Coming back to analyze this record fully, all these years later, felt like coming home to a friend you haven’t seen in years. It was warm, comforting, and a true blast from the past that was thrilling to hang out with. If you’ve never heard it and love Deathcore/heavier music, or haven’t listened to it in years, fire it up and have a wonderful time as I did.