REVIEW: Bring Me the Horizon - Count Your Blessings | Repented

BRING ME THE HORIZON released their first album 20 years ago and despite a complete change in genre, they decided to re-record it just for its anniversary. The album is complete deathcore madness and being 20 years old it has its imperfections and blemishes. But the new version has repented that all, not only is it now perfectly polished music but the quality of the vocals, riffs, drums and everything in between has proliferated.

Straight into the first track Pray For Plagues is one of the most iconic songs in BRING ME THE HORIZON's 20 year history and they made it better. Those that know the album well will clearly be able to hear the added depth and sharpness of the song, sonically it’s been taken from something quite flat and dull to something just perfectly mixed and mastered. One of the main differences being lead vocalist Oli Sykes’s vocals, there’s a clear deliberateness to each turn he takes in the song and intent behind every note.  Tell Slayter Not To Wash His Dick comes up next instantly opening with intense deathcore beats. In this track you can really hear the difference in Oli’s vocals as he switches for certain lines to his more natural shouting voice like we’ve heard in recent albums, mixing it together with his deathcore screams and deep growls. Before the breakdown about 2 minutes in, Oli shouts “move” which he really tears his inner demon out for, flaunting the depths his voice can reach. 

Each track seems to unintentionally highlight a new difference in the rerecord. In For Stevie Wonders Eyes Only (Braille) there are many guitar shredding riffs on the higher end where you can cleanly hear each note as well as half time break downs which a piercing snare shots through with a booming hit of the bass drum underneath it. You can hear both ends so clearly where as in the original the distinction between the two was lost in the noise.  A Lot Like Vegas is one of the shorter tracks on the album, it leans slightly more into the metalcore sound that you can hear in their songs like Antivist. It adds some variance to the solid deathcore onslaught but now with the rerecording sounds much more like something the band could release in current day. It’s a song in which it strikes you that no matter how far the band have come sonically, they really have stayed true to that sound in some ways and really are the same lads from Yorkshire. 

Most of the songs on the record are true to the original only with a brand new level of production. However the band did decide to rename the fan favourite Liquor & Love Lost, returning it to its original title Dragon Slaying.  Fifteen Fathoms, Counting is also a track to note, a break in the noise for really beautiful slowed acoustic guitars and shallow drums. Much like the original, it's soothing and leans more to their emotional side that you can see in later albums with songs like Doomed and Follow You. It's much easier to tell from the rerecording but the album really has all the building blocks that slowly stacked their way to what Bring Me The Horizon is today. All the emotions, the lyrics, the genre switching and the undertones are like small tastes of what the band later grew to become. 

Of course the re-recorded tracks in the album ends with the ever famous Off The Heezy, the track is metal onslaught that leaves a brilliant sour taste in the back of your throat. It's a song that seeks revenge and that's exactly what they're doing with this re-recording. It feels like two fingers up to anyone that doubted the band along the way or their skills now that they've shifted genres. The album closes with the brand new song Dehumanized in which the band return to their deathcore sound with strong graphic imagery, taking a stance in the loudest way possible. The track came as a shock to everyone just to hear the band returning to their roots and with the re-recorded album it is the cherry on top to complete it with something that is so new yet fits in so perfectly.

It's hard to mend something that both fans and non fans are so used to and have been listening to for so many years without people rejecting modernity. But online reactions have seen this re-recording widely accepted and appreciated, impressing everyone with the sheer difference in quality.  To celebrate its release and the band's 20th anniversary, they played two insane sold out no barricade shows for Outbreak , in Manchester. Two shows with stacked line ups and we cannot wait to see the carnage at these shows.

Score: 9/10

Count Your Blessings | Repented was released on 10th July 2026 via Sony Records.

Words: Amy Smyth

Photos: Bring Me The Horizon