That's the Spirit

Background

The band started teasing the album in late June when the band started promoting images of a symbol of an umbrella, all in the form of tattoos, stickers and posters posted around England, which would later be revealed as a promotional symbol for the album's first single. The band later released a short video in early July where the words "That's the spirit" were spoken in reverse. On 13 July, the band announced they had left their previous label Epitaph Records and signed fully with Sony Music subsidiaries RCA and Columbia.

In an interview with NME, vocalist Oliver Sykes confirmed the album title being That's the Spirit while also mentioning several song titles as "True Friends", "Avalanche", "Throne" and "Blasphemy".

Writing and recording

Keyboardist Jordan Fish played the role as producer for the album along with Sykes, considering an external producer unnecessary. The band also hired a personal fitness trainer during the album's recording process.

Influences, style and themes

In an interview with NME, Sykes said that the album is a loose concept album about life’s darker moods, such as depression, and a way of making light of it. He cited the alternative rock bands Jane's Addiction, Panic! at the Disco, Interpol and Radiohead as influences for the new album. Jon Wiederhorn of Rolling Stone stated that the album marks a change for Bring Me the Horizon from a sound "undeniably rooted in metal" to a "sound full of ebb-and-flow dynamics inspired by indie rock, alternative music and pop" in an "evolution from artsy metalcore to cinematic pop rock", and that it sounds more like Muse and Linkin Park than Metallica and Lamb of God. Similarly, Daniel Furnari of Blunt Magazine suggested that "That’s The Spirit sees Bring Me The Horizon push things further than ever with a collection of stadium-standard alt-rock anthems more suited to Glastonbury than Warped Tour ... For perhaps the first time, Bring Me The Horizon have produced a record with no throwbacks to the Suicide Season days of outrageous mosh calls and downtuned riff insanity."

Featuring characteristics of electronic music, That's the Spirit has been considered electronic rock, and has also been regarded an alternative rock and alternative metal album by several online platforms, such as AllMusic, Toronto Sun, and Blunt Magazine. Its style has also been described as pop rock by some music critics. Sites such as The Guardian and St. Cloud Times have described it as nu metal.

Release and promotion

The band's first single released from the album before its announcement was "Drown" on 21 October 2014. The first promotional single was "Happy Song", released on 12 July 2015. The second official single was "Throne", which was accompanied with a music video and the official announcement of the album's track listing and cover art. Fish explains that "Throne" reflects the group's then current state of mind both musically and emotionally, going to say that it was one of the most straight forward songs they had recorded, but felt that it was an obvious choice for a single due to its immediate catchy-ness and level of energy. "True Friends", was released as a promotional single on 22 August along an official lyric video.

The band set up an intimate album launch performance on September 6, 2015 at the Rose Theatre, Kingston and embarked on a tour throughout October 2015 in North America, which also featured American festivals such as Aftershock Festival and Knotfest and was supported by metal band Issues and rock band PVRIS. The band also played a European Tour in November 2015

Critical reception

Like the band's last two albums, That's the Spirit was met with critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic (a review aggregator site which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from music critics), based on 10 critics, the album has received a score of 88/100, which indicates "universal acclaim".

Daniel Furnari of Blunt Magazine wrote: "[On That's the Spirit,] Oli Sykes powers through every enormous chorus and infectious verse with a confidence and finesse that would have you believe he’s been singing like this for years." Andy Biddulph of Rock Sound stated that the band sounded their most accomplished in the album, bursting with fresh ideas and says that no other band incorporates synth and atmospherics into music quite like the band does in this particular album, comparing the band to the likes of Linkin Park. James Christopher Monger at AllMusic stated "What's most surprising is how natural it all feels, but that's due in large part to the long-form recalibration of the band's sound. By entering the mainstream one limb (album) at a time, Bring Me the Horizon are merely reaping what they've sown, and longtime fans should already feel acclimated to the water." In addition to Linkin Park, Monger compared the choruses from the album to Avenged Sevenfold, Thirty Seconds to Mars and late 1990's Metallica. A more lukewarm response from Phillip Whitehead of Rock Sins, who rated it a 6.8/10, stated that while "Bring Me the Horizon have improved their musicianship once again", the pacing of the album and general tone meant "there is a real sense that the band have lost the very thing that made them unique."

Accolades

The album was ranked at number 2 in Alternative Press's "10 Essential Records of 2015" list. Matt Crane of Alternative Press wrote that the album shows a "genuine evolution for the band." He named "Happy Song" as providing the band "rock-radio potential" and "Throne" as "an aggressive, exotic take on the groove-based synth-rock" that was popularised by Linkin Park. The album was included at number 1 on Rock Sound's top 50 releases of 2015 list. That's the Spirit was nominated for Album Of The Year at the 2016 Alternative Press Music Awards.

Commercial performance

On 14 September 2015, The Official Chart Update reported that That's the Spirit was on track to debut atop the UK Albums Chart, being just 1,000 copies ahead of Keep the Village Alive by the Stereophonics. However, four days later, after one of the closest chart battles of 2015, Keep the Village Alive beat That's the Spirit to number one by a margin of less than 1,300 copies, denying Bring Me the Horizon their first ever chart topper.

The album also debuted at number one in Australia, giving the band their third consecutive number-one album there. That's the Spirit has sold 130,000 copies in the US as of February 2016.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Oliver Sykes; all music composed by Bring Me the Horizon.