BRING ME THE HORIZON's OLI SYKES Explains Decision To Re-Record Debut Album 'Count Your Blessings' For 20th Anniversary

In a new interview with Nik Nocturnal, vocalist Oli Sykes of British rockers BRING ME THE HORIZON spoke about the band's decision to release a 20th-anniversary re-recording of their debut album, "Count Your Blessings". Due on July 10, "Count Your Blessings | Repented" is described by the band as a "reactivation" and "recontextualization" of the 2006 LP, which included such singles as "Pray For Plagues", "Slow Dance" and "A Lot Like Vegas".

Oli said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think a lot of people think that we hate that record or are embarrassed about it, 'cause we don't play it and stuff, but really we were just always disappointed with how it sounded. I remember we weren't stoked on it at all when we came out of the studio. It was a small band. We didn't have much budget. We wanted to go with, like, Adam D [Dutkiewicz] or someone that could help us make this record cool. We ended up going with some guy. The only thing he'd done is — no disrespect to him; I'm sure he's a good producer in his own field, but he'd done SIMPLY RED. That was his previous credit. So SIMPLY RED to BRING ME deathcore album is just, like, 'All right.' And we had no idea what we were doing. We didn't know anything about click tracks, about panning guitars left and right. We had no idea about anything. It was our first time. And he didn't really either, in terms of a metal band. I think I got ill halfway through it, so around about track five, it just starts to sound like I've been singing through a sock. We were getting drunk all the time. No one even sat in with each other when we were recording. So everyone just went in and did their parts. No one was going, 'Wait a minute, Matt, that's a bit out of time.' And you can hear that."

Oli continued: "I remember putting the CD on in the car, and I had this huge subwoofer in the back of the car. We used to listen to ALL SHALL PERISH 'Wage Slaves'. I remember it just sounded insane on that. So we'd always get in my car and listen to stuff, and it would just be, like, sick. I'd put 'Count Your Blessings' on, and I was, like, 'Oh, it just doesn't sound good.' I remember just driving home going, 'This does not sound good.' And I don't think I ever listened to it ever again, 'cause I was just so unhappy with it. And I think over the years and stuff, I obviously just never really revisited it."

Regarding why BRING ME THE HORIZON hired Swedish musician, producer and audio engineer Buster Odeholm to mix "Count Your Blessings | Repented", Oli said: "We just wanted to go with who's doing that today. But actually, we also realized no one's doing that music today. So even Buster himself, I wouldn't say he struggled, but the first mix was, like, his classic mix. And the the snare huge, the kick huge. The riffs kind of so much gain, you can hardly hear them. And it sounded sick. Don't get me wrong, it sounded cool. But we were, like, 'We can't have this record sounding like what bands sound like today. It needs to be the best version of what it sounded like in 2006.' So the kick has to be clickier, more triggered. The snare needs to be nice and pingy. It can be fat on the breakdowns. The riffs have to actually be clear. 'Cause the whole album's just riffs. There's more riffs than vocals. So you need to hear them riffs, 'cause if you're not hearing them, it's pointless."

Sykes went on to say that reimagining "Count Your Blessings" for its 20th anniversary and making it sound modern was a trickier prospect than he and his bandmates had originally expected.

"It's crazy 'cause there's no reference," Oli said. "There's barely any references. I know there's the revival going on right now, and there's some bands, but for the most part, those bands are kind of — not parodying, but they are going super cliché classic style; it's not like a modern reinvention. From what I've heard — I'm sure there's other bands out there. But I was just trying to find something that was a reference that exists like in 2025 or [202]6. I was, like, 'There's no one. This music, it's an archaic style.'"

Sykes and guitarist Lee Malia worked on "Count Your Blessings | Repented" with Odeholm, resulting in an effort that is "reborn, sharper, heavier, and more vital than ever," according to the band. The song "Liquor & Lost Love" also appears under its original working title "Dragon Slaying".

BRING ME THE HORIZON will perform "Count Your Blessings" in its entirety on July 10 at Manchester, United Kingdom's B.E.C. Arena as part of Outbreak festival.

Dubbed "Outbreak Presents: Count Your Blessings | Repented", the event — co-curated between Outbreak and BRING ME THE HORIZON — will also feature Leeds post-hardcore act STATIC DRESS, who recently appeared on BRING ME THE HORIZON's "Post Human: Nex Gen" arena tour, Sheffield mathcore veterans ROLO TOMASSI, Portland metalcore five-piece DYING WISH, British metallers HERIOT, L.A. emo band CAR UNDERWATER (on their first U.K. trip),and hardcore supergroup STILL IN LOVE. The concert will "reactivate" the album rather than simply look back at it, and has been structured to feel like "a defining moment for a generation of fans — both those who were there at the beginning and those discovering it now."

"Possibly the most requested and mythologised single show of the last decade," the organizers say, the event offers "a chance to look back at [the band's] enduring influence on heavy music as the deathcore of 'Count Your Blessings' inspires an exciting new wave."

One of the world's most influential modern rock acts, BRING ME THE HORIZON has sold over 6.6 million albums worldwide and amassed more than 9.4 billion global streams.

BRING ME THE HORIZON's "L.I.V.E. In São Paulo (Live Immersive Virtual Experiment)" concert film was screened in theaters in late March. Filmed live at São Paulo, Brazil's Allianz Parque Stadium in late 2024, it captured BRING ME THE HORIZON as the band was traveling the world in support of that year's "Post Human: Nex Gen" LP. This was their biggest headline show to date. "L.I.V.E. In São Paulo" arrived on LP and CD on April 10.