If, like myself, you loved old school Bring Me The Horizon’s (BMTH) sound, the screaming of frontman Oli Sykes, the heavy guitar and ever-present roughness that made their stuff so amazing back in the day – then this is the place for you. It’s difficult to find anything to compare to Syke’s vocals or the weight of the backing guitars, but fear not, here are some of our top picks to please even the most sceptical BMTH fan.
Fever 333
The American born band Fever 333 are one to watch in the rock scene in 2019. Their sound is equally similar to Linkin Park as it is to BMTH, due to a similar rap rock styling. However, they have such a heavy guitar presence in tracks like ‘BURN IT’ that the slight variation in the vocals to BMTH’s can be brushed aside to appreciate the similarities in the backing tracks. There’s still more screaming than BMTH’s recent releases, which is a pleasant surprise, especially in their track ‘Made An America’. Whereas most heavy core bands from America will glamorize their sounds slightly, Fever 333 keep it raw, rocky and edgy, and that’s something I admire from them.
SHVPES
SHVPES’s sound ranges from that of pop-rock giants You Me At Six all the way through to BMTH; there’s such a variety that there is something for everyone, even if you are still a fan of BMTH after their attempt to go mainstream. One thing I do like with SHVPES is they don’t bring out the screaming all the time like some heavy core bands. Instead, they apply it to when they need to pack a punch, such as in the chorus or the bridge. This makes certain parts of the track have more impact, which draws your attention when the screaming starts and away from the drums and guitars in the backing track, keeping you on your toes. Also, when they do start to scream, the throaty aspect of how they do it is much like how Sykes screamed throughout the BMTH album Sempiternal which is difficult to find.
Annisokay
Many of the reasons why I appreciate the similarities of Fever 333 to BMTH are the same reasons why Annisokay are on this list. There’s a marked contrast between the singing vocals which sound very pop-punky on their own (a bit like All Time Low) to the deep screaming, and this contrast works so well. They may not sound exactly like BMTH, however the aspects that they do sound similar in work so well. Another similarity is that, especially in Sempiternal, BMTH embraced electronic effects over the top of the track and the vocals to make something unique to them. Annisokay has done the same, and there are electronic aspects to their tracks, such as ‘Blind Lane’ and ‘Coma Blue’ that work really well with the hefty weight of the guitar solos.
To the Rats and Wolves
To the Rats and Wolves are for are on the borders of rock and metal; the fact they’re singing, and not growling, is the only thing that saves them from straying into metal and away from realm of rock. They, by far, have got the heaviest screaming of any of the bands on this list, but their songs have an electronic pulse running through them that pairs nicely with the traditional rock/metal sound and brings something new to it. So if they are nearly metal, what makes them like BMTH? The screaming is scarily similar to that of BMTH’s early work, such as that on the album Suicide Season, where the screaming doesn’t even have to be words, it can be animalistic and raw, and To the Rats and Wolves encompasses that within its own unique slightly electronic, heavy rock sound
