Suicide Season - Bring Me The Horizon
Suicide Season, released in 2008, was one of the first albums I stumbled across back in the day from Bring Me the Horizon, as I mentioned in some of my other reviews/my foreword for this In Review series. I remember hearing “The Comedown” for the first time, and the opening riff blew me away, while the rest of the song continued to impress. It’s an interesting album in the band’s discography, coming hot off the heels of one of the most influential Deathcore records of all time (Count Your Blessings) and before their pivotal Metalcore record (There is a Hell…). You can hear that “middle” sound on this record, as it falls somewhere between a Deathcore and Metalcore album, but never fully leans in to either. I see it as kind of a best-of-both-worlds situation, where you get a leftover Deathcore sound but also Metalcore sensibilities with the writing, structure, and intentionality. This record also sees the band experiment a lot more with electronic elements - a strategy that would develop into electronic elements becoming a massive part of the band’s overall sound.
This album is a bit of a mixed bag for me as I revisit it. The majority of the tracks are on the longer side, which can sometimes cause a bit of fatigue, especially when it feels like a track meanders a bit. This was a complaint I had with their first EP, if you recall from my review of that (check that out here!). Oli’s screams are often played safer here and aren’t as visceral as Count Your Blessings, but he does still have plenty of incredible low and high screams with some snarl on this record. Suicide Season begins the trend of Oli’s vocals sometimes sounding like he’s just yelling as loud as he can, rather than actually screaming with a more technical approach. Despite these shortcomings, the record is highly favored upon reflection when compared to its mixed reception at release, and is still a great time. The songs on this record aren’t all about going all-out full speed, but instead slow down when necessary, allowing the band to sit in the pocket and focus on delivering a clean/consistent performance. The guitar tone on this record is one I've always loved too. It’s somehow clear and crunchy at the same time, and has a timeless sound. Additionally, the drumming is a little more straightforward, less chaotic, and feels very Metalcore.
I already mentioned it above, but “The Comedown” has an incredible intro that blows the door off the hinges, harkening back to the Deathcore sound on Count Your Blessings. You can already hear the change in song structure with this track compared to the previous album, and the screams are fantastic here. The guitar riff will also get stuck in your ears for days, and the drums steadily pummel throughout the song. “Chelsea Smile” can feel a little repetitive (especially with the five-minute runtime), but it’s a track I love to come back to. It’s heavy, catchy, and has several stand-out moments any time the song slows down. “Football Season is Over” is a quick two-minute chaotic romp that features JJ Peters of Deez Nuts fame. The track sounds like it could be a Count Your Blessings B-side, as it leans more Deathcore than Metalcore. “Diamonds Aren’t Forever” is the perfect get hype track, with a visceral and heavy intro that goes full Deathcore. Most of the song even reminds me of Suicide Silence during their first two albums. Finally, an honorable mention has to go to “No Need for Introductions, I’ve Read About Girls Like You on the Backs of Toilet Doors”. While the song is only one minute long, there is a whole lot packed in there! You get a nice little piano intro that sounds like elevator music, blast-beats, the sound of Count Your Blessings, a Doom Metal outro, and Oli talking shit about a woman who tried to defame him over a controversy that allegedly lacked evidence and was thrown out. What a wild ride of a song!
Suicide Season is an album all about experimentation early into Bring Me the Horizon’s career, with electronic elements, a shift in overall genre, a methodical 8-minute final track that is reminiscent of an August Burns Red track (specifically about four minutes into it), and a companion remix album that sees the songs re-imagined as several other genres. The band has mentioned before that this record was make-or-break for them after the initial reception they got in the scene with Count Your Blessings. Their experimentation during the writing process of Suicide Season has definitely rewarded them with the career they ended up with. This record helped legitimize them in the Metal scene and put them on the map as one of the first Metalcore bands to make it big outside of Britain. Without this record, I think the band would have faded into obscurity like the countless other Deathcore bands from the era that I found on random websites in the 2000s. Thankfully, Bring Me the Horizon took the time to look inward and see that change needed to happen to garner prolonged success, which separated them from the rest. Sometimes that changing of sound would branch a bit too far for my taste on future records, but it did allow the band to gather a fanbase that spans different eras with something for just about everyone, much like one of Oli’s biggest influences: Linkin Park.