Hot off the launch of their recent concert movie and album ‘L.I.V.E. In São Paolo’, a recording of their biggest-ever live show which they released in cinemas in March and as a live album last week, BMTH have never been as prolific as they are right now. Since fourth album ‘Sempiternal’ rewrote the template for the metalcore sub-genre, the group have developed into an innovative alternative metal juggernaut, with their most-recent ‘Post Human’ releases combining metal, hardcore punk, pop, and electronic elements in a uniquely accessible form.

But at the time ‘Count Your Blessings’ released in 2006, they were just a group of teenagers from South Yorkshire creating a savage, disorganised breed of early deathcore. Bring Me The Horizon formed in Sheffield in 2004 before releasing their first EP ‘This Is What The Edge Of Your Seat Was Made For’, which although marred by a harsh DIY mix, was a promising first attempt. Their chaotic live performances and the buzz from new label Visible Noise re-releasing the EP led to them gaining a significant underground following, with Kerrang recognising them as their Best British Newcomer at their 2006 award ceremony.

When the album did come out that year, it was largely to mixed reviews, and was never considered a landmark release by critics. Tracks like ‘Pray For Plagues’ and ‘(I Used To Make Out With) Medusa’ earned them a legion of fans, but the sound was never revisited on their sonic journey. After what was a disjointed, angsty teenage breakthrough, BMTH’s ferocity tempered following each release, with their immature early sound gradually replaced with an ultra-polished mix, more-typical song structure and clean vocals. In recent years however, the band’s most-veteran fans’ calls for a familiar, heavier release have only amplified – and the band have listened.

Last week, billboards went on display around Manchester with the message ‘PRAY FOR PLAGUES’, but social media detectives didn’t have to wait long for the answer to the mystery. Today, Bring Me The Horizon made two huge announcements – not only are they remaking and re-releasing ‘Count Your Blessings’ for its 20th anniversary, they will also be performing a special one-off rendition of it in partnership with Manchester’s premier hardcore gathering, Outbreak Fest. As for the reissue, which they have titled ‘Count Your Blessings | Repented’, it is due to be recorded from scratch, retuned to be as they put it “reborn, sharper, heavier and more vital than ever.”

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The Manchester show will be the first time the album has been played in its entirety, and the setlist will also include other songs from that stage of their careers. BMTH want the night to be “a defining moment for a generation of fans — both those who were there at the beginning and those discovering it now.” Their earliest LPs ‘Count Your Blessings’ and its hugely-popular follow-ups ‘Suicide Season’ and ‘There Is A Hell…’ have effectively been erased from the band’s live rotation for over a decade now, give or take the odd cameo where frontman Oli Sykes is still more than capable of his then-trademark screams and growls.

The reissue ‘Count Your Blessings | Repented’ releases on the 10th of July, with the live show taking place at Manchester’s B.E.C. Arena on the same day. Tickets for ‘Outbreak Festival Presents: Count Your Blessings | Repented’ go on general sale on Friday the 17th of April at 10AM, with a pre-sale live now accessible with any pre-order of the album before 3PM on the 14th. Also playing are Static Dress, Dying Wish, Heriot, Rolo Tomassi, Car Underwater and Still In Love.

UK HEADLINING DATES

This is gonna be a heavy one.
get stoked

Tickets go on sale Friday 10/22! pic.twitter.com/ViJZshZdo7

— Lorna Shore (@LornaShore) October 20, 2021

Earlier this year, Lorna Shore released an E.P. entitled …And I Return to Nothingness to overwhelming praise by both fans and critics alike, with Wall Of Sound boldly proclaiming; “Welcome to your E.P. of the year”. The E.P. marks an important milestone for the band, as it is their first release with new vocalist Will Ramos, who showcases his fearsome, demonic vocalisations in full force on these three songs. Between the ominous melodic passages and down-tuned brutality that seamlessly blends deathcore, death metal and black metal, it is no hard feat to see why this exciting release is so popular amongst deathcore fans.

Rock Sound recently spoke with guitarist Adam Di Micco following the release of the E.P. The guitarist explained that there was a lot of doubt directed towards the band following Ramos’ appointment as their new vocalist, stating; “A lot of the conversation around the band at this time was that whatever we do wasn’t going to be Lorna Shore anymore, and it was going to suck” and “With people telling us that we couldn’t do it, I was going to make sure that they would eat their words…Those people are the reasons these songs sound like this. We took that anger and used it to our advantage.”

Di Micco also touched on the group’s writing process for …And I Return to Nothingness, saying; “We also wanted to touch on all different aspects of the band and cover all of our ground with Will. So you have ‘Of The Abyss’, which is more of a typical Lorna Shore song, the sort of thing we would normally do. But it’s also done better than any other Lorna Shore song we have done like that too. Then you have ‘…And I Return To Nothingness’, which is the riskiest song. It’s not heavy, but it’s very emotive, melodic, big, and the song I have wanted to write with the band for years. So that’s why so many avenues are touched on.”

…And I Return to Nothingness is available on all streaming services, and numerous physical pre-orders of the album are available here.

Lorna Shore’s UK tour dates are listed down below. Tickets can be found here.

23/01/2022- Flapper- Birmingham
24/01- Rebellion- Manchester
25/01- Key Club- Leeds
27/01- Exchange- Bristol
28/01- Cathouse- Glasgow
30/01- The Dome- London