Bring Me the Horizon just won a Brit award - what does this mean for metal?

It’s hard to imagine a group of screaming British you adults becoming one of the most influential bands in their genre, however one four-piece from Sheffield continue to show the world the ‘Darkside’ of music.

Even after a crushing headline arena tour of the UK and Ireland in January earlier this year, a metalcore band that often experiment with hyper-pop, rock and indie sounds probably wouldn’t be your expected talk of the town.

But after winning their first ever Brit award, Bring Me the Horizon are just that.

It’s no secret that metal music has always somewhat suffered from negative criticism, especially from generation Z and millennials – two generations of people that were brought up on the music of the 90s and the 00s. In fact, according to statista.com, only 16.9% of Americans as of 2018 listened to heavy metal – compared to the 56.1% that listen to pop, this is a big problem for the genre – it almost signifies that it was at the time, nearly dead.

Picking up the prize of 2024’s best rock/alternative act, Bring Me have achieved what little may have thought possible all the way back in 2004, with the release of the This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For EP marking the start of the band’s fully loaded discography. The extended play was a break-neck paced; deathcore inspired collection of songs that were about as heavy as a new band could be back in the early noughties. With this being an instant turn off to most, the band was unsurprisingly not quick in its rise to stardom. In 2006, the band’s first full-length LP, Count Your Blessings, was released - soon followed by 2008’s Suicide Season and 2010’s There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret.

So, why the sudden rise to fame? What took this young, talented group of misfits to a position where almost everyone knows their names and dreams of sharing the stage with them?

Enter, Jordan Fish.

Fish was a keyboard player but became so much more than that to Bring Me and their now signature sound. And it was in off the back of his debut album with the band, 2013’s Sempiternal, that the world would begin to recognise them as one of the emerging talents from the metal stratosphere, with lead single Can You Feel My Heart? breaking the US Billboard Rock charts for the first time in the band’s history. In 2015, the band released That’s the Spirit, and came into their own for the very first time. The songs featured were a genius mix of both metal and pop, with a seemingly brand-new direction decided on by all members involved.

After building on this sound and perfecting it in 2019’s Amo and 2021’s Post Human: Survival Horror, the band now find themselves in a position of winning awards, going on an enormous, sold-out tour and headlining many metal and mainstream festivals – all whilst still sitting on their next album, the highly expected Post Human: Nex Gen.

But why are Bring Me the Horizon becoming so big still though? A combination of both social media and collaboration. Whilst in lockdown, the UK went berserk for TikTok – and with it, memes and songs therewithin. Can You Feel My Heart? inexplicably blew up - and when I say blew up, I mean it was everywhere – all for the “Giga Chad” videos that were being created at the time as an effort to stop the world going mad in lockdown.

And then, the Brits. No, not this year when they won, but way back in 2021. The stage is set, Bring Me the Horizon are ready to march out and rock the venue like it's never heard. However, in the sharpest of turns, it is not the voice of lead singer Oli Sykes that fills the room, but the sweet chords of Ed Sheeran performing his then new hit Bad Habits. What would go on to happen was a collaboration that would break the mould for metal forever, putting the genre firmly back into the spotlight for the first time in decades.

The fusion of pop superstars and Bring Me the Horizon continues to this day, having appeared on record with rap giant Lil Uzi Vert and a collab with Billie Eilish rumoured to be in the works for their upcoming album. What Bring Me the Horizon has done is nothing short of unbelievable, with the band ensuring that metal music stays at the forefront of conversation for much longer than expected.