walking upstream…
Bring Me the Horizon
photo: panoreganko · cc by 4.0 ↗Bring Me the Horizon
Formed in Sheffield in 2004 by a handful of teenagers steeped in deathcore and grindcore, Bring Me the Horizon spent two decades refusing to sit still. Oli Sykes's shrieked vocals and the band's blast-beat brutality on 'Count Your Blessings' gave way, album by album, to the widescreen electronics and pop instincts of 'Sempiternal' and 'That's the Spirit,' then the glitchy detours of 'Amo' and the industrial churn of the 'Post Human' series. Few bands have crossed as much genre territory while keeping a coherent identity — Sykes's restless, confessional lyricism and keyboardist Jordan Fish's production sensibility (until his 2023 departure) anchored the shifts. What stayed constant was a band chasing whatever sounded most alive, dragging metalcore's audience with them into arena rock, EDM, and back again.
the sound in question
2015
ThroneBring Me the Horizon
walk the tributaries ↓
Slipknot2000s · Nu metal / Heavy metal / Alternative metal
Sykes has said flatly that 'Bring Me The Horizon wouldn't be here if Slipknot didn't exist' — Slipknot's freak 2001 breakthrough on the UK chart with 'Iowa' convinced a teenage Sykes that extreme, screamed, masked music could actually break through commercially, which he's described as his explicit goal for the band. The early Visible Noise years leaned on Slipknot's toolkit directly: layered screams over lurching breakdowns and enough reverence that Bring Me the Horizon covered 'Eyeless' for a Kerrang! compilation.
listen: upstream & heresource: Oli Sykes credits Slipknot for Bring Me the Horizon's existence ↗
1999
EyelessSlipknot
2006
Pray for PlaguesBring Me the Horizon
listen forPut 'Eyeless' next to 'Pray for Plagues' — both alternate a chugging, palm-muted low-string riff with a sudden blast-beat sprint, and both vocalists snap between a guttural low growl and a higher, more melodic wail inside the same breath.
Nine Inch Nails1990s · Industrial rock / Alternative rock / Electronic rock
Sykes has named Nine Inch Nails directly, saying Bring Me the Horizon are 'obviously very inspired by Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead and those that really push what it means to be a band with the fusion of music and technology.' That fusion — treating programmed electronics as compositional material rather than decoration — became explicit once Jordan Fish joined in 2013, reshaping the band's sound around synths, distorted low end, and industrial rhythmic sequencing alongside the guitars.
listen: upstream & heresource: NME ↗
1994
CloserNine Inch Nails
2013
Can You Feel My HeartBring Me the Horizon
listen forLine up 'Closer''s mechanical, throbbing verse groove with 'Can You Feel My Heart' — both build the track's low end from a distorted, pulsing electronic pattern rather than a conventional bassline, with the vocal pushed almost to a wounded murmur against it.
Deftones2000s · Alternative metal / Nu metal / Art rock
Jordan Fish has said Deftones 'probably remain my favourite band to this day,' tracing it back to seeing them live just after 'White Pony' came out. The band brought in producer Terry Date, whose credits include Deftones, for 2013's 'Sempiternal,' and critics heard the connection immediately — Loudwire's review of the album singled out 'And the Snakes Start to Sing' for 'venturing into Deftones-like atmospherics.'
listen: upstream & heresource: Jordan Fish on the impact of Deftones and nu metal ↗
2000
Digital BathDeftones
2013
And the Snakes Start to SingBring Me the Horizon
listen forSit with 'Digital Bath' next to 'And the Snakes Start to Sing' — both drop a lurching, distorted riff into a wash of shimmering, dreamlike guitar texture, letting a genuinely pretty chorus melody float over music that stays structurally heavy underneath.