Bring Me The Horizon are joined by Of Mice & Men and Crossfaith this Saturday, October 12, at Challenge Stadium. AUGUSTUS WELBY reports.
Bring Me The Horizon’s chart-topping fourth LP, Sempiternal, sees the band comprehensively exploring the electronic inclination hinted at on their earlier records.
The album is punctuated by the keyboard and programming work of the band’s newest member, Jordan Fish. Although he doesn’t take sole credit for the increase in electronic sounds, Fish says he aimed to incorporate his personality into the group’s established sound.
“On the last album there’s definitely bits of it, there’s strings, choral stuff, there’s electronics and there’s some synth parts. Really what I wanted to do was try to take the best elements of all that stuff and then put my own stamp on it. Everyone who does that kind of laptop or computer-based work has their own sound. It worked well, so we just went with it.”
Joining a group who have spent so much time playing together could make for an uncertain creative scenario. Also, one might understandably feel trepidation about contributing ideas and making stylistic alterations to such a widely loved band, however Fish indicates that the extent of his creative participation developed rather naturally.
“When I first started working with the band there was no plan whatsoever long-term, it was just, ‘See what happens, try out some ideas’. I guess it just built up gradually so I didn’t have that much time to think about the fact that kids might not like it, or whatever.”
Rather than being intimidated by the legions of expectant fans, the biggest shock for Fish was actually the South-versus-North divide between himself and the rest of the group. “I’m different from the other guys in the band,” he says. “I’m not from Sheffield, I’m from South England – they speak completely differently. At first it took a bit of getting used to the in-jokes and the dialect and all that kind of stuff.”
Having been a fully-fledged member of the band for over a year now, Fish perceives himself to be on equal footing with the other four members. “Everyone treats each other as equals, so to be honest I don’t feel like this is a temporary thing or anything. In terms of decisions, everyone asks everyone’s opinion and everyone answers something. I’m enjoying it and the touring is really good fun, getting to see loads of amazing places.”
Indeed, Bring Me The Horizon have spent the majority of 2013 on a massive world tour, stretching back to their high-billing on the Soundwave festival early in the year.
The band’s headline tour in Australia this month takes them to much larger venues than any of their previous visits. They’ll be joined by fellow metalcore elite, Of Mice and Men and Crossfaith, and Fish guarantees the shows will be of a spectacular stature.
The strong support from Australian audiences will certainly not be taken for granted and Fish indicates the band intend to come to Australia as regularly as they can. “Because we’ve got such a good reaction in Australia, it’s one of the places we really want to focus on. If you’ve had a number one album you want to go and play to those people as much as possible.”
