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''Suicide Season'' is the second studio album by British
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon are a British Rock music, rock band, formed in Sheffield, England in 2004. The group currently consists of lead vocalist Oli Sykes, drummer Matt Nicholls, guitarist Lee Malia and bassist Matt Kean (musician), Matt Kean. T ...
. It was released on 29 September 2008 in the United Kingdom and Europe through
Visible Noise Visible Noise is a defunct British independent record label that focuses exclusively on British bands. They are best known for the rock bands Lostprophets, Bullet for My Valentine, Bullet For My Valentine, and Bring Me the Horizon. History Vis ...
. The band signed a licensing deal with
Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...
on 11 September 2008, with the label releasing the album on 18 November 2008 in the United States. The album shows a major change musically from their previous releases, starting to shift from their original
deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore Breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock, breakdowns. While there are some precursors ...
sound and mixing in
metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...
influences. This would also be the last album to feature Curtis Ward on rhythm guitar. The band later released a two disc special edition of ''Suicide Season'' which features various musicians and producers remixing tracks off the album, entitled ''Suicide Season: Cut Up!''; this was released on 2 November 2009 in the United Kingdom through Visible Noise and on 12 April 2010 in the United States through Epitaph. ''Suicide Season'' spawned three singles (" Chelsea Smile", "Diamonds Aren't Forever" and "The Sadness Will Never End"). The album debuted on the charts of five countries. Critically, the album received a more positive response than the band's preceding debut. While praised for the genre shift, improved musicianship and newfound lyrical maturity compared to the style of 2006's ''Count Your Blessings'', the album continued to receive critique for elements of the lyricism and some were polarized over the change of sound from ''Count Your Blessings''. The album has begun receiving even more favourable retrospective analysis, notably surrounding Bring Me the Horizon's later critical acclaim.


Background and recording

After the release of band's first studio album 2006's ''Count Your Blessings'', the band began experiencing an extremely hateful reaction from people to their music. They cited that very few publications featured them and in drummer Matt Nicholls' opinion, the band had gathered strong hatred from 'proper metalheads'. For example, when the band supported
Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin ...
in 2007, the crowd began throwing bottles at the band before their set had even started. When preparing the music for ''Suicide Season'', vocalist Oliver Sykes and lead guitarist Lee Malia agreed that this record would be the "make-or-break" factor for the band and that it had to be different from ''Count Your Blessings''. ''Suicide Season'' was written and recorded in
Arboga Arboga () is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Arboga Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,989 inhabitants in 2020. Overview The city of Arboga is known to have existed as a town since the 13th century but the are ...
, an isolated Swedish village with producer
Fredrik Nordström Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström (born 5 January 1967) is a Swedish record producer and musician, and the guitarist of the heavy metal band Dream Evil. He is one of the leading melodic death metal and power metal producers in Sweden and has worke ...
. Lead vocalist Oliver Sykes described Arboga as "Nowheresville".Metal Hammer "Bring Me The Horizon Exclusive" article
/ref> Sykes considered the isolation Arboga provided as ideal in comparison to the constant activity in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, the recording location of their first album: "We recorded ''Count Your Blessings'' in the middle of Birmingham and it was very easy to get distracted. Arboga is a village with nothing in it apart from a tiny shop and that was it". During the initial recording of the album, Nordström initially was absent from working with the band, in Sykes perspective, he drew his own conclusion based on ''Count Your Blessings''. However, he turned up midway through their recording process and was shocked by the music they had written, and from that point became more involved in the recording process. Nordström also taught the band some basic levels of recording and production so they could work through the night. By the end of the album, he said it was "one of the best CDs he's done in years". The album cover features a girl (Stephanie Byrd) holding her intestines. Sykes explains this in an interview, stating: "The whole idea behind the cover is that the girl n the coverhas her intestines out and it's about spilling your guts basically, and opening up to the world." Whilst in Arboga, the band caused a controversy and lit an unlit, prepared bonfire in the middle of the forest. They were put in the local paper for destroying a
pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
celebration. The album features guest appearances from vocalist JJ Peters of Deez Nuts, Sam Carter of
Architects An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and Luis Dubuc of The Secret Handshake.


Composition


Influences, style and themes

''Suicide Season'' departs from Bring Me the Horizon's previous
deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore Breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock, breakdowns. While there are some precursors ...
sound. The band was subsequently credited for adopting a more eclectic style and moving into a more "straight-up"
metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...
sound. In an interview with ''
Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...
'' magazine,
Sykes "Sykes" is a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origins, which generally has topographical roots as it original linguistic origin. The name derives from the Old Norse word "sík" or "síkja", meaning a small stream, marshy hollow, or gully. It eventua ...
states that this album is "100% different" from '' Count Your Blessings''. He also says: "We experimented a lot more I think, more with other styles of music we all enjoy, using different instruments and technology, by bringing a lot of digital stuff to the table. Every track is different." Because of this drastic change in sound from ''Count Your Blessings'', they experienced a massive fanbase shift. Sykes has stated that the band was better focused when in the studio, which made it easier for them to experiment with song writing and to expand their sound: "We didn't really have any other band we wanted to sound like or any other style. We just thought we'd try to do something different and see what comes out. And this is what came out." The remix album ''Suicide Season: Cut Up!'' style has a range of different genres. Oliver Sykes in ''Interview'' states that "There's not a song on there that really sounds like the original. What's great though is the diversity of each song. There's
dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...
to
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
, electro to
drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...
." The dubstep style of the record has been acknowledged in tracks from Tek-one and
Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...
while the hip-hop elements are found in Travis McCoy's remix of " Chelsea Smile". Benjamin Weinman's version of "No Need for Introductions..." is considerably the most unusual with its incorporation of industrial music.


Promotion and release

Visible Noise Records produced a site dedicated to the promotion of the album. It featured a clock counting down to 29 September (the album's release date), and a scroll-over page in which the visitor can reveal an image of the album's artwork. The band also put a countdown to the release of the album in the United Kingdom. They also headlined in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. The support acts included
The Red Shore The Red Shore were an Australian deathcore band from Geelong, Victoria, formed in 2004. They signed to Big Phat Adelaide Records and Modern Music in 2006 and released their first EP, '' Salvaging What's Left''. on March 27, 2006, the band rai ...
, Deez Nuts, The Secret Handshake, Dead Swans, The Legacy,
Misery Signals Misery Signals was an American-Canadian metalcore band formed in Wisconsin in 2002. History Formation (2002–2003) Misery Signals was formed after the disbanding of several bands, including 7 Angels 7 Plagues, Hamartia, and Compromise. Having ...
, Johnny Truant, The Ghost Inside, and Confide. The album was released on 22 September through
Visible Noise Visible Noise is a defunct British independent record label that focuses exclusively on British bands. They are best known for the rock bands Lostprophets, Bullet for My Valentine, Bullet For My Valentine, and Bring Me the Horizon. History Vis ...
. The first promotional
video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
from ''Suicide Season'' was released on 12 August 2008 on the Visible Noise Myspace page, entitled "The Comedown". On 15 August, " Chelsea Smile" was released on the band's Myspace page. The CD format of the album features a label stating the name of the album over the intestines on the cover, as it may be found offensive to some. It was announced on 27 August 2009 that Bring Me the Horizon would be releasing a remixed version of ''Suicide Season'', titled ''Suicide Season: Cut Up!'', and it was released in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2009 and was later released in the United States on 12 April 2010. The origin of the album concept was that Oliver Sykes asked a friend to remix one of their songs, and the band was very pleased with the end result so the band decided to have all of ''Suicide Season'' remixed. Musicians and producers featured on the album include:
Ben Weinman Benjamin A. Weinman (born August 8, 1975) is an American musician, most notable for being the lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the mathcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan (DEP). He is the founder and sole constant member of the DEP, he i ...
from
The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of Consonance and ...
,
Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...
, L'Amour La Morgue, KC Blitz,
Utah Saints Utah Saints are an English electronic music duo consisting of members Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt. The band had three top-ten and another five top-40 singles on the UK Singles Chart in the 1990s, as well as number-one dance tracks in the UK an ...
and Shawn "Clown" Crahan from Slipknot. Guitarist Lee Malia noted how they compiled the release to fulfil a contractual obligation to re-release the album. In October 2011, it was awarded a gold certification from the
Independent Music Companies Association The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda a ...
which indicated sales of at least 75,000 copies throughout Europe.


Critical reception

Upon its release, the album was met with a warmer reception than the band's debut: ''Count Your Blessings''. While some were not so pleased with the change in direction from the earlier
deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore Breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock, breakdowns. While there are some precursors ...
sound of the band's previous album and the lyric writing continued to receive some criticism in certain areas, ''Suicide Season'' was generally seen as a notable improvement over their debut record, with praise aimed at the shift in sound to a more refined musical direction rooted in
metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...
, the more mature songwriting and the instrumentation, along with its willingness to experiment with elements of other genres. Tom Forget of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
wrote that the album is filled with "Intricately constructed and refreshingly unpredictable songs", citing Bring Me the Horizon as one of Britain's first
metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...
bands to "make any waves." Phillip May praised the band's ditching of deathcore and new adoption of metalcore, writing on RockLouder that "One of ''Suicide Season''s greatest assets is its sense of menace. BMTH were always meant to be a terrifying prospect, but '' Count Your Blessings'' was so messy its attempts to be something dangerous were laughable. But here, by allowing layers and riffs time to breathe, efforts like the title track prove far more intimidating than any lightning-paced deathcore mush ever could." Ryan Williams of Thrash Hits gave the album a rating of 4.5 out of 6, writing that although some of Sykes' lyrics are "cheap", "It's easy to focus on the obvious and the silly but there are some seriously strong developments to BMTH's newly-matured music. The results are occasionally astounding." A review on ''
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'' was positive, pointing out that although there are some weak songs on the album, it is "a great departure from their previous effort", and goes on to say "All in all this is an album to write home about."Bring Me The Horizon - Suicide Season review
/ref> A review of the album on Punknews.org was far more critical of the album, stating "there is "substance" here—there are guitar solos, tempo changes, gang vocals—but there isn't substance. There's no authenticity; it just seems like the songs were built from a collection of "brutal" ideas written on pieces of paper, put together in a hat, and splashed out on the floor." The album received a 1.5 out of 5 rating. A review on ''
AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to featu ...
'' was also critical of the album, stating that while some songs were "heavy, but catchy" and "sounds like it would have a room full of people moshing until they drop", at some points it feels like the band is "half-arseing it", going on to say "Sometimes you wish they would throw in some thrash beats, and fast riffing. This can disappoint and I feel like a few solo's wouldn't go amiss." However, the reviewer concludes by saying "All in all, ''Suicide Season'' has impressed me. The boys from BMTH have come back and shown they aren't just a generic haircuts band."


Retrospect

As Bring Me the Horizon received more recognition and acclaim, ''Suicide Season'' has been looked upon more fondly than when it was first released. In 2012, when ''
Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...
'' inducted the record into their "Hall of Fame", the band members reflected on ''Suicide Season'' positively. Jamie Kossoff, one of the remixers on the ''Cut Up!'' edition of the album, noted that electronic and
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...
remixes of heavy music were not common before the ''Cut Up!'' edition was released.


Accolades


Track listing


Personnel

Bring Me the Horizon * Oli Sykes – lead vocals, keyboards, programming * Lee Malia – lead guitar * Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar *
Matt Kean Matthew John Kean (born 16 September 1981) is a former Australian politician who is the Chair of the Climate Change Authority. Prior to this, he was the Treasurer of New South Wales in the second Perrottet ministry of New South Wales betwee ...
– bass * Matt Nicholls – drums Additional musicians * JJ Peters of Deez Nuts – guest vocals on "Football Season Is Over" * Sam Carter of
Architects An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
– guest clean vocals on "The Sadness Will Never End" * The Secret Handshake – samples on "Chelsea Smile" Additional personnel * Fredrik Nordström and Henrik Udd –
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...
, mixing * Peter In De Betou – mastering at Tailormaid, Sweden


Charts


Certifications


References

Footnotes Citations Bibliography * *


External links


''Suicide Season''
at
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(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control Bring Me the Horizon albums 2008 albums Albums recorded at Studio Fredman Epitaph Records albums Visible Noise albums Albums with cover art by Sons of Nero Albums produced by Fredrik Nordström