After launching a mysterious, cryptic and teasing campaign over the past week, which included a billboard reading “Do You Want to Start a Cult With Me?” – a line that turned out to be one of the lyrics in “Mantra”- the Sheffield band Bring Me the Horizon released their new single “Mantra” on BBC Radio 1, on 21 August 2018.
BMTH have gradually stepped towards stardom since the beginning of their career back in 2004, and these days they are back with a single that is irresistible, catchy and built for huge stadiums and venues.
‘Mantra’ opens with a little glitchy electronic intro that is imbued with a ‘weirder and darker’ attitude – as Oliver Sykes, the frontman says – to finally explode into a tantalizing chorus that is lightyears away from their metalcore past.
Their typical combo of bluesy modern rock and ever increasing electronic elements has now reached a higher level, where a twisted atmosphere is supported both by a strong line of guitar, bass and double-kick drum and by the remarkable presence of Jordan Fish, the keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist that joined them in the recording of their last album ‘That’s the Spirit’. Fish adds here sinthy hints to guitarist Lee Malia’s riffs that carve the track uniquely.
The evocative vocal of Sykes guides the listener through the whole song, and his crackling chords and mild lisp make him an inimitable frontman and give him a charismatic character that is truly one of a kind.
The subject matter is not too far away from previous BMTH tracks since it deals with betrayal, existential misery and religious indoctrination.
“It felt like the first thing we wanted to show people upon our return”, Oli Sykes stated, and when asked about the release of their next album, he replied: “I don’t want to say, we’re definitely working on stuff. We got something exciting to announce in the next few days.”
Bring Me the Horizon’s most recent album was 2015’s That’s the Spirit, in which the metal core band went in a more pop direction, while prior to that, the band released the critically acclaimed Sempiternal in 2013. “Mantra” definitely leans more toward That’s the Spirit than Sempiternal. Sykes said: “The music we are working on is completely different from That’s the Spirit, but there are some similarities. We want to be a heavy band but not in the way you think of heavy.”
‘Mantra’ doesn’t involve that sonic leap many were predicting for BMTH’s sixth LP – and it’s not the pop that old-school fans feared. Their new album will be probably released in January; in the meantime, they’ve announced a world tour. In addition, and as part of their promotional campaign, the band also launched a website called joinmantra.org, which reads, “There are those who will say that only after a lifetime of sacrifice and good doing can the soul be free – that God demands conditions in the freedom and that some have the power of making mankind slaves.”
Watch ‘Mantra’ here:
(@bmthofficial)
He discovered the gem when he was 12 years old and still has it now, claiming it to be why he fell in love with music. He likes to play disc golf when he's not writing about music. He is a one-of-a-kind individual who is always the first to bust out his air guitar on the dance-floor.
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