Album Anniversaries: Selling Out Or Growing Up? 10 Years Later, Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘Sempiternal’ Remains an Integral Part of Their Sound

After signing with a major record label, Bring Me The Horizon refined their metalcore sound with its fourth album, creating a unique combination of heavy electronic tracks leading to lasting success 10 years after Sempiternal’s release.

In Album Anniversaries, writers honor their favorite aging albums and their subsequent legacies, revealing which projects have stood the test of time.

Written by Olivia Abercrombie

Photo courtesy of NME

Sempiternal: Eternal and unchanging; everlasting. These words capture the legacy of one of modern metal's most influential bands — Bring Me The Horizon. However, they do not apply to the band’s ever-changing sound. In a genre that historically prides itself on sticking to its roots, the band’s unique sonic evolution is an integral part of their lasting presence in the hardcore scene. 

After the success of their conceptual 2010 album, There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret, the group landed a major record deal with RCA to release their fourth LP, Sempiternal. Until this point, Bring Me The Horizon had thrived in the deathcore scene as rebellious teenagers rather than as a major production. The transition to the mainstream could have been a disaster. But along with a new label came an influential producer — Terry Date. Known for his work with nu metal powerhouse Deftones, Date had built a reputation for his ability to perfectly balance the polish of a world-renowned rock band with the grit of metal. Bringing together age, experience, and the pressure of becoming a part of a massive label along with Date’s influence, Sempiternal allowed Bring Me The Horizon to bridge  the group’s raw beginnings with a new sound that propelled them to worldwide success. 

While maturing and signing to RCA had a lot to do with the changes in the band’s sound in “There Is a Hell..”, the addition of Jordan Fish pushed the group forward more rapidly than they ever had before. Previously of doom metal band Worship, his skills as a producer and his electronic sound elevated the new style that the group played around with in their past two albums. Their third album marks a departure from their previous sound and the start of a haunting  journey through the release of addiction, the rejection of religion, and the consequences of one’s actions. 

Determined to keep their metal edge, the Sheffield natives released “Shadow Moses” as the first single from Sempiternal. The track opens with an orchestral hymn of hypnotic vocals, and a new electric, refined production  serves as the perfect teaser for the incoming LP. The biting breakdowns characteristic of lead guitarist Lee Malia crash into the first verse: “I thought I'd buried you and covered the tracks,” a desperate cry about the relentless cycle of addiction. The album’s first single gave a clear, unabashed picture of the theme of addiction that drives the album's story.

Sempiternal is also notable for its cinematic elements that draw sonic inspiration from one of Sykes’s favorite directors, Danny Boyle. The second single, “Sleepwalking,” pulls from the central theme of Boyle’s apocalyptic thriller “28 Days Later.” The progressive build into stinging riffs during the intro of “Sleepwalking” directly parallels the ominous score foreshadowing impending doom. The lyrics also draw inspiration from the film as Sykes growls out, “Time stood still the way it did before / It's like I'm sleepwalking,” to describe his ketamine addiction that “disengage[d] [him] from reality, caus[ed] hallucinations and distorted [his] perception.” He compares his addiction to the metaphorical disease in the film that takes away all sense of self from those it infected.

After the first two singles, the entire album burst onto the charts on April 1, 2013. The opening track alone solidified this album and the electro-core band as a powerhouse in modern rock. “Can You Feel My Heart” remains the band’s most streamed song 10 years later because of its seamless combination of the electronic influences of Fish and the heavier instrumentation of the band’s origins. The intro's intoxicating synths resemble a heartbeat that flatlines into an addictive, headbanging breakdown. The agonizing screams of the chorus ring out about the first step of healing — admitting you have a problem: “Can you hear the silence? / Can you see the dark? / Can you fix the broken? / Can you feel, can you feel my heart?”

Religion is a recurring theme in all of Bring Me The Horizon’s work, and “House of Wolves” serves as this album’s atheist kick in the gut. The track is a spit in the face of those who preach religion as a cure-all for addiction, and the piercing riffs and heavy speed of the drums fuel the hatred behind this bold track. The title alludes to the biblical symbol of evil — the wolf — but the metaphor goes deeper: “House of Wolves” is a phrase for a group of devious people in organized religion.. As the gritty guitar breakdown peaks, Sykes chants in defiance and skepticism: "I'll bow for your king when he shows himself.”

Image courtesy of RCA Records

The 11-track album introduces a softer sonic range in its second half. While Suicide Season and There Is a Hell… had quieter moments, they never fully committed to a fully restrained set of tracks like Sempiternal. The album's first half is packed with heavy breakdowns, Sykes’ striking screams, and pounding basslines. But the seventh track, “And The Snakes Starts To Sing,” creeps in with the soft crackle of a record on a turntable. The introduction of Sykes's clean vocals on this track aligns with the delicate chugging of Matt Kean’s basslines as Sykes details the isolating and debilitating feeling that accompanies drug use, repeating, “Worms come out of the woodwork / Leeches crawl from out of the dirt / Rats come out of the holes they call home / I fall apart and the snakes start to sing.”

This quiet desperation continues with “Hospital for Souls” — the album’s grim yet comforting finale. A sweeping ambiance swallows Syke’s confession of the internal turmoil he has suffered from during his addiction: “And then I found out how hard it is to really change / Even Hell can get comfy once you've settled in.” An explosion breaks the softly building serenade of violins as Matt Nicholls’ booming kick drum escalates under a shrieking guitar melody. The anthemic track is an exploration of Sykes’ healing process and a final call for help to everyone impacted by his struggles. With a chanting repetition of torment, Sykes begs, “Hold me close, don't let go, watch me burn / In this hospital for souls.”

Almost 10 years after their birth, Bring Me the Horizon refined their instrumentation, production, and lyricism with support from a major label, which eventually culminated in the release of Sempiternal. While critics argued that the label sign-on was a sell-out move,, the newfound access to experienced producers accelerated their maturation and thrust them into a new era of creativity and sonic exploration.