

Bring Me the Horizon have come a long way since their first album. A very long way. The deathcore rebels who formed 10 years ago were only interested in making the heaviest uproar possible. This week, they're headlining Wembley Arena.

It may sound like a prank, but in truth it's a massive achievement for both modern-day metal and for the five band members who, give or take the odd line-up change, have got here through plain blood, sweat and tears.

It was the moody ambience and monstrous rock of their last album and major label debut, 2013's Sempiternal, that turned more ears than ever before. The most surprising new fan, however, might have been Radio 1, who stuck BMtH on its daytime playlist alongside the usual materialistic pop.

Sitting with the band in the back of a Lebanese restaurant in London's Soho, Digital Spy asks if they ever imagined hearing themselves on brunchtime mainstream radio. "I think even the presenters were surprised. After playing us, they went 'Oof, I don't know about that screaming'," laughs frontman Oliver Sykes.

"I heard us on there the other week," recalls guitarist Lee Malia. "Before she put it on, the presenter said, 'If you're not awake, you're gonna be awake soon'. It's almost like they have to defend it before putting it on." "We enjoy that, though," Sykes insists. "Being the most extreme thing on the pop side rather than being the softest metal band. I think it's cool."

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In anticipation of Wembley Arena, they wrote their greatest song yet; 'Drown's blustery chorus is ideal for the king-sized stage and finds Bring Me at their most radio-friendly. "We wanted to write something worthy of the arena," reveals Sykes. "It was a different process because we never think about the design of our music when we're writing."

It's a universe away from the late-teenagers whose debut album Count Your Blessings was full-on commotion. "I don't think we thought I'd ever be singing. We just wanted to make noisy music," says Sykes, adding with a smile: "We'd probably be quite offended by 'Drown', actually!"

But as for the much-awaited next album, 'Drown' is not in the mix. "It's not going on there... not unless we get really desperate!" jokes Sykes. Keyboardist Jordan Fish adds: "We're planning to record early next year. We want it out by the end of next summer, but we don't know what it's gonna sound like yet. If 'Drown' goes on the album, it means it hasn't gone well!"

Sykes explains: "We want a tone and theme to the album, and that wouldn't be 'Drown'. Having 11 songs like 'Drown' would be a bit too much. It will be a bit more edgy and a bit more disoriented. We want to be the catchiest band we can get, but in a non-conventional way."



Now they're one of rock's major names, you'd think they'd have the bulk of super-producers lining up to work with them. But Bring Me the Horizon are an autonomous lot; they want to figure out their next direction alone and Fish reveals they're planning to produce their fifth studio album themselves.

"[Terry Date] didn't take a very hands-on role with the production [on Sempiternal]," he continues. "Not because he couldn't, but we didn't really want him to. He was cool with that. We knew how we wanted it to sound." Sykes adds: "He helped as much as he could. But it's almost like you're paying a guy to argue with and we don't need that."

"It does make people nervous," grins Fish. "Management and that. You can tell. A lot of times when bands produce their own music, it's s**te. Management are so used to paying some person loads of money." Sykes confesses: "We've basically blown all our money on a nice villa in Santorini."

They're also keen to point out that following Sempiternal, too much credit was given to producer Date. Fish admits: "One thing I found difficult, people were like, 'The album's really different, it must be because they worked with Terry Date'. But we did that. We made that change on our own.

"No-one knew it was us, so on this one we want to do it ourselves, and we can." Sykes agrees and goes on to add: "People said Terry Date shaped this band and sorted this band out. No offence to him, but we did that in spite of him. I have more respect for artists who [produce music] themselves. It's more exciting in my eyes."

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Given Radio 1's fondness for them and their sudden charge into the Top 5 of the UK album chart, the group have also noticed a change in their admirers. Drummer Matthew Nicholls says: "We get a lot more lads and bros coming to see us. On stage, all we can see is a mass of people, but our sound guy sees it down in the audience."

"You used to [be able to] tell a Bring Me the Horizon fan; the hair and the clothes and whatever," explains Sykes. "But now people come up to me in the supermarket and the gym and say they love our band. They just don't look like it. I couldn't guess a Bring Me the Horizon fan now. It's really cool."

Bassist Matt Kean continues: "We've been used to so many people going mental moshing at a show. But we play now and everyone's just singing along. It seems like it's more boring but it's not; it's just that everyone's singing to the songs." Sykes concurs: "We like that more. It feels like it could last now, whereas it didn't always feel like that."

And what about the fans who adored the deathcore of before? "All I can say is go and listen to a different band," declares Sykes. "There's plenty of bands now who still do what we did, probably better than we ever did. We're never gonna sound like that again, so the very simple solution to that problem is stop listening to us, go and listen to someone else." Fish laughs: "And that's your answer!"

It's not just the UK who've taken to Bring Me's brand of life-affirming potency. They've forged a solid following in the US, where Sempiternal charted at 11. "It'd be better if it were 10," smiles Sykes. "A Top 10 record... We have been lucky with America, though. So many bands go over there from England and no-one gives a s**t. We've always had at least someone turn up."



It was mostly those in the US who were confused by the group's recent abrupt change in sound, after they contributed to Zane Lowe's re-scoring of Drive. 'Don't Look Down' saw BMtH team with rapper Orifice Vulgatron of Foreign Beggars for a dubstep-tinged track. It suited the scene of the movie all well and good, but Fish later felt the need to write a statement to allay fans fearing their band had suddenly done one.

"The song's not a Bring Me the Horizon song," insists Sykes. "We wanted to do justice to the scene and that's why we went all out with a rapper." And the reaction? "Overwhelmingly terrible," laughs Fish. "Couldn't get any worse," follows Nicholls. Sykes adds: "We wanted to make it clear we understood. If I was 15 and we were my favourite band, I'd be exactly the same, like 'What the f**k?!'

"It all came out the wrong way. People in America had no idea what was going on over here with Drive and Radio 1. We didn't [put out the statement] cos everyone hates the track, we just totally understood why people reacted like that. People thought it was our new single."

They nearly collaborated with The Prodigy's Keith Flint for the song, too. "That was the whole point of the track," reveals Nicholls. Fish continues: "It probably would have made a lot more sense. He bailed at the last minute!" Why?! "He got cold feet," says Sykes. As exciting a BMtH-Prodigy alliance would have been, we'll have to wait another day to hear it...

So, after Wembley Arena this month, the band fly to Santorini next year to work on album five. Once that's out, then come the stadiums... Right? "Yeah, we've got Wembley Stadium on hold. Three nights, U2 supporting," Fish jokes. "We'll be back at the Leadmill, more like," replies Sykes. Wembley Stadium or the Sheffield Leadmill, we're definitely safe with Bring Me the Horizon in charge of their own destiny.

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