I think it's pretty obvious that I love Bring Me The Horizon's work, but if it isn't already, I've listened to every record they've ever released, many times (except for Music To Listen To, hearing Oli meditate for 20 minutes once is enough). Their evolution with every album is a wonder to see, but I feel like Suicide Season is not nearly mentioned enough of how big of a turning point it was for the band.
Coming off of the lovable but messy, rough deathcore sound of Count Your Blessings, you'd hardly expect them to transition to such a promising, almost genre-redefining metalcore sound, but they did it. A three-point jump up in production, songwriting and creativity, the increase in quality cannot be overstated. After a mathcore EP and a deathcore album, they somehow found themselves dead center in the best metalcore sound of that era.
As the title suggests, this album does delve into some pretty heavy topics, but a decent majority of this album is still that same "teenagers having fun" vibe, and I love that it comes through in the chaotic essence, topical carefreeness and occasional party-esque moments. Songs about zombies and vampires, partying too hard and shit-talking bad people, all great bops in the name of fun.
The darker songs touch on topics like depression and suicide, showing both their versatility and maturity on these cuts. There's a distinct tonal shift that goes on, with a stronger focus on melodic dissonance and less chugs, building atmospheric sections and more nuanced emotional passages. Other than Chelsea Smile, which somehow manages to have the best of both worlds, the rest of the album seems to be on either side of this sonically heavy/emotionally heavy duality.
This album also sees the beginning of their sonic versatility, especially with their production choices. Turns out, they've always been unafraid to use electronic elements in their music, even if not too often here. They're also unafraid of having fun too, because who else puts fifteen seconds of elevator jazz before the heaviest song they have? If that doesn't seal the deal on why they're at the forefront of modern metalcore, I don't know what will.
Suicide Season is justifiably one of their best albums, and a significant milestone of their career. I love that I love it, because as miraculously huge of an improvement as it is, it was still a bit rough around the edges, and at the time that I first listened to it, I wasn't very accustomed to heavy music. To be honest, I'm surprised it stuck, it was definitely the heaviest album I knew at the time. Regardless, a super solid record of theirs, a must listen if you're getting into Bring Me The Horizon, even more so if you want to understand how simply groundbreaking they were as a metalcore band.
Rating: 10/10