“Rock’s gone soft, it’s gone miserable and boring, there’s not really much exciting about it.” Those were the words uttered by front-man Oli Sykes of British band, Bring Me the Horizon. This statement by Sykes didn’t go unnoticed with Shinedown drummer, Barry Kerch. Kerch responded by saying that “rock is doing well”. Rock is doing well, but it’s hard not to find some truth to what Sykes is saying. In 2017, Hip-Hop overtook Rock as the most popular music genre according to year-end chart results. Rock has taken a back seat to Hip-Hop in the current era of popular music. No longer do we have bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin dominating the charts on a consistent basis. Instead, the “new Rockstar’s” as Sykes put it, are rappers like Cardi B, Post Malone, and Drake. They are consistently in the top ten of the music charts and have produced the anthems for the younger generation. Sykes also went on to say “I really do feel like rock is the only genre that hasn’t really produced any icons in the past three decades. It’s still Ozzy, Metallica and all these bands headlining festivals, there’s no one coming along and taking the crown and stuff like that.” The statement might come off as a bit of an exaggeration since people like Kurt Cobain have come along since then, but there’s a certain truth to it. Other than Cobain, what new young rock band is carrying their version of John Lennon or Freddie Mercury? Instead, the past twenty years have consisted of the likes of Eminem, Drake, and Jay Z all have had their careers catapult into icon status. Hip-Hop, not rock, is developing all these new stars while no new rock bands are ruling the charts.

So, what went wrong? As Sykes puts it “sheer resistance to progress, to do something different and to let other people on our record or (other) instruments in. There’s such a stigma attached to that, that rock has to be a certain way.” That rings a lot of truth when it comes to rock music. As history has shown us, rock has progressed through each decade and can be categorized into many different things. Elvis ruled the 50s with hits like Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock, then came The Beatles in the 60s, which took what guys like Elvis and Chuck Berry did and expanded it. Albums like Sgt. Pepper and Revolver broke musical barriers and opened the minds of people on what music could sound like. Once the Beatles broke up, bands like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Queen all came in the 70s ready to take the rock mantle with a distinctive sound of their own. Floyd pushed the boundaries of progressive rock, Zeppelin popularized the hard rock genre, and Queen incorporated opera and arena rock. Each band was different and unique, but most importantly was the fact that no band had existed that was similar to them. That’s the problem Sykes is pointing out, rock has gotten to a point where experimentation and progress has ceased to exist. Who is there that is pushing the rock genre forward? Yes there are good bands like Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, and Maroon 5, but are they dominating the charts like Hip-Hop artists are? Instead of original and fresh new music, we have bands like Greta Van Fleet who sound like a nostalgia band trying to recapture the classic rock sound boomers grew up with. Rock doesn’t need recycled and safe material that is going to make 50-year-old dads recapture their youth, it needs a new band that can take it to its next cycle. What Pink Floyd did for rock in the 70s is what Bring Me the Horizon are trying to doing now. They are constantly changing their sound with each album and are pushing the boundaries of what a rock band can sound like. No band in history has had much change in their style than BMTH. Having formed in 2004, the boys from the U.K. have come a long way from their early days of playing in garage sized venues and having fans fight them on stage. Their first album, Count Your Blessings, was deathcore and a stark contrast to the sonic and electronic sound they have now. They have evolved their sound throughout each album while gradually improving their songwriting and production. Their sophomore album, Suicide Season, abandoned deathcore completely and shifted to a straight up metalcore sound. There is Hell featured symphonic influences, clean vocals, and a new sense of maturity in their songwriting. Their first three albums featured slow progression and experimentation but it was clear with their 4th album, Sempiternal, that the band had a vision for their future. The electronic elements introduced in their previous albums would take center stage and prove that the boys from Sheffield could be the biggest band in their genre. No longer were the hollowing screams and thrashing guitar sounds the focal point, but a more electronic and sophisticated sound emerged. Their fifth album, That’s the Spirit, pushed the band into the mainstream and gave them more opportunities than ever before. For some, this was a sellout for a mainstream audience, but to others, this was a welcomed changed. When the Beatles stopped making safe radio friendly music like, She loves you and, I Want To Hold Your Hand, they incorporated styles like folk, Indian, and compression. Instead of recycling the same material for every album, they innovated and made rock music interesting. That’s what great bands do and should do. Whether the sound on Amo is well received or not, it cannot be denied that BMTH are doing exactly what the Beatles did with Revolver, pooling in different types of genres together to create something people rarely hear from rock albums. It isn’t more evident than the four singles that have been released from the album that all vary in musical style and composition. Mantra can be characterized as a hard rock song with some pop/ electronic elements while medicine is basically a radio friendly pop song. Can Amo even be considered a rock album? That’s for every one of its listeners to decide. To put it in simple terms, Amo is an album that perfectly blends multiple styles of music that creates an album that listeners will be bewildered at what they just heard. Did I just hear a rock album? Electronic album? Or was it blend of both?

It is time rock had a band that is willing to push the boundaries of rock and no one is more perfect for that then Bring Me the Horizon. If anyone needs reassurance that BMTH is the right band to usher a new and exciting era should look no further than their Royal Albert Hall performance. Bring Me the Horizon are here to change rock for the better and rock fans should be content that rock is in good hands.