All Hail Next Gen: A Night With Bring Me The Horizon

Every time we think Bring Me The Horizon are at their peak, they continue to push themselves, push the boundaries of genre, and get louder and bigger and better.

Sheffield metal band Bring Me The Horizon are known for their pioneering of metal into the mainstream, selling out headline tours across the world since the release of their genre defining 2013 album Sempiternal and landing nomination after nomination for their work over the last 10 years, all whilst sparking controversy and challenging the norms of traditional metalcore whilst doing so.

The tour takes place before the highly anticipated second instalment of their Post Human EP series, whilst not being released now until Summer 2024, the leading singles seem to carry on their dark, cultish themes from previous works such as Mantra from their 2019 release Amo.

Over the years, Bring Me have taken a theatrical and storytelling approach to their live shows, making it such a unique experience. Tonight was all about Eve, an artificial intelligence character who tells us apocalyptic tales and encourages the crowd, antagonising both audience members and frontman Oli Sykes. Stage design and major production is also a huge part of the experience, this time the backdrop is reminiscent of a church; gothic arches and stained glass windows with red carpeted platforms, only adding to the cult-like theme that Sykes seems to have grown so fond of.

unwavering power

Opening with DArkSide, a newer song off of the upcoming EP ‘Post Human: NexGen’, the crowd was instantly up. Sykes has an unwavering power on that stage and it makes sense, he's been at the top of his game for the last few years, and much like the cult like references in their music, one could argue he is a cult leader every time he's on that stage. Every member of that crowd is at his beck and call, attentively listening out for him to tell us what to do next.

Kool-Aid, their most recent release about the Jonestown Massacre, is where the stage production truly becomes a spectacle; a large rotting angel tears through the church backdrop, bringing back this almost blasphemous imagery - and this continues throughout the night.

Small pieces of white confetti, mimicking snow, flutters down as the hum of a choir chant begins. Another fan-favourite Shadow Moses. We're transported back to 2013.

Taking it down a notch, we're met with the acoustic section of the show. A song about us, the fans, cools us all down from the walls of death and circle pits, bringing us all together, linking arms, sat on each others shoulders. Though this lasts a total of about three minutes, when Sykes calls out Olli Appleyard, Static Dress frontman, for a deep cut - a song fans have been looking forward to hearing in the UK for the first time since their Headline set at All Points East in 2019.

"WE WILL NEVER SLEEP 'CAUSE SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK, AND WE WILL NEVER REST 'TILL WE'RE ALL FUCKING DEAD" sends the audience into a frenzy, the floor is almost split in two, people are rushing around and pushing each other back to open the pit up more.

Moshing and crowd surfing

Moshing and crowd surfing aside, this band are always big on crowd interaction; they've built up this dedicated fanbase over the last 20 years, and they've maintained this band/fan relationship well. Always thinking of ways to keep the audience entertained, and keeping up their theatrics, Sykes has the fans shout "come on Oli you fucking knobhead!" to be recorded and put into a track on the upcoming EP.

Appleyard isn't the only onstage guest, as Bad Omens' Noah Sebastian comes out for another fan favourite cut from previous tour setlists, it's obvious from the get go that fans are happy to have this track back. It feels like the band have really listened to their fans for this tour, after recycled setlists for the last three festival and tour runs, they could see the appeal so many of their older songs had online, bringing back Doomed too, and adding the fan fare introduction, Overture, from their orchestral set at the Royal Albert Hall.

A video montage of the last 20 years played, showing their gigs at pubs and dive bars, their fans with the checkerboard belts and rubber wristbands in the early 00's, their historic moment at the NME awards in 2015. It really put into perspective how much of a successful career that Bring Me The Horizon have had so far, and this isn't even their peak. Sceptics and older fans of the band are continually being proven wrong by Bring Me The Horizon, as they mature and grow, its becoming clearer and clearer that they'll be up there with the likes of Metallica, headlining stadiums.

Written by: Thea Antoniou