BRING ME THE HORIZON's OLI SYKES Says 'Nex Gen' Is 'A Real Concept Album'

U.K. behemoths BRING ME THE HORIZON have released their highly anticipated new album "Post Human: Nex Gen", via Columbia Records.

"Nex Gen" is the latest chapter in the series to be revealed and sees the band expanding both musically and conceptually. It follows on from 2020's "Post Human: Survival Horror", which featured collaborations with Yungblud, NOVA TWINS, BABYMETAL and EVANESCENCE's Amy Lee, and included the huge hit singles "Teardrops" and "Obey". Sonically, the album hits heavy, while frontman Oli Sykes's vocals are his most melodic to date.

BRING ME THE HORIZON entered 2024 with an explosive start having played to over 140,000 fans in the U.K. and Ireland on their biggest U.K. arena tour to date, winning the BRIT Award for "Best Alternative/Rock Act", announcing their first stadium show in São Paulo, Brazil (selling 30,000 tickets in the first day!) and now the surprise release of their new album, which has already caused a global frenzy since appearing online last night.

The first part of the "Post-Human" series, "Survival Horror" was recorded during the first COVID lockdowns, almost entirely remotely, and leaned into the band's heavy side to express its feelings of anger, fear, emptiness and despair. Of "Nex Gen", Sykes says that it's searching for something more hopeful, if not entirely positive in and of itself. Fittingly, the music this time — already previewed in huge singles "Kool Aid", "DiE4u", "AmEN!" and "DArkSide" — has an even more euphonic, post-hardcore-inflected stripe, while still bursting with the band's unique, forward-thinking creativity.

Oli adds the album took "ages to write". Partly, this is down to the band thinking that lockdown would last much longer than it did. When it lifted, they quickly found their schedules full with touring the world and headlining festivals such as Reading and Leeds (where they were joined by Ed Sheeran for their collaborative hit "Bad Habits"),hosting and headlining "Nex Fest" in Japan, Download festival in the U.K., Good Things in Australia and When We Were Young and Sick New World in Las Vegas.

But it's also down to the concept quickly growing into something bigger than its creators originally imagined. "Post-Human: Survival Horror" became far more of an event than the band had envisioned upon release, and crafting its follow-up required much bigger thinking than first anticipated.

There is so much to unwrap under the surface of the album for those who can spot it. "It's a real concept album, with a full narrative that connects to the first record, but the concept is hidden and buried," Oli says. "Some people aren't going to be interested, but for some people it could be like a self-help book. There's a lot of things in there, some of it's quite clear, but a lot of it cryptic and hidden. People are gonna have to work it out."

Not that BRING ME THE HORIZON are looking backward. As ever, "Nex Gen" is the work of a band unafraid to challenge both themselves and the musical world in which they have become leaders.

In January, BRING ME THE HORIZON released a new song called "Kool-Aid". The track was the first to arrive following the departure of longtime keyboardist and percussionist Jordan Fish in December.

Fish joined BRING ME THE HORIZON in 2012 and appeared on the albums "Sempiternal", "That's The Spirit" and "Amo", which he helped write.

BRING ME THE HORIZON has been called one of the most forward-thinking metal bands in the world. As it has grown, BRING ME THE HORIZON has undergone a musical progression from its earliest days as a metalcore band, in large part because of the production talents of Fish.

Jordan had been a major influence on BRING ME THE HORIZON's sound, inspiring many of the edgy guitar riffs and other elements on the "Sempiternal" album. His music production fingerprints can be found all over "That's The Spirit", which offered a stylistic departure from the metalcore genre.

When BRING ME THE HORIZON announced Fish's departure, the band said in a statement: "BRING ME THE HORIZON has decided to part ways with Jordan Fish. We want to thank him for the musical journey he took with us and wish him luck with everything in the future. Meanwhile we continue to work on 'Nex Gen', with brand new music coming very soon."

Fish added in a separate statement: "I'm really grateful for my 11 years with the band, and extremely proud of all that we have achieved together. I look forward to hearing what they do next, and wish them every success in the future. I'm excited to start this next chapter in my career."