Bring Me The Horizon’s frontman, Oli Sykes, recently dropped some tantalizing hints about what’s next for the band’s "Post Human" series. Fresh from the band's HQ in Sheffield, Sykes sat down with NME to chat about their latest surprise album, "Post Human: Nex Gen". This second installment follows 2020's ‘Survival Horror’ and has already stirred quite a buzz.
Originally, BMTH had grand plans to release four "Post Human" EPs in a year, riding out the pandemic in a creative surge. “We thought we were going to be in lockdown for a lot longer than we were. We thought we could bang out a few EPs in that time. We also thought these EPs were going to be a little more humble and a bit of fun.” Sykes reflected.
Now, "Nex Gen" dives deep into Sykes' return to rehab and the band grappling with newfound success amidst the departure of key member Jordan Fish. Sykes revealed that the future arc of ‘Post Human’ is a real narrative rollercoaster. "This whole record is a proper narrative that actually explains the first record. I’ve realised that what I’ve been doing for years is building this world in my head and not telling anyone about it. That narrative is going to feed into the next one and I don’t want to give it all away because the way the record ends for me personally is realising that I’ve got to leave.”
By “leave,” Sykes doesn’t just mean geographically. “I’ve got to end a lot of relationships, I’ve got to leave my own country, I’ve got to get away and I’ve got to kind of kill apart of myself. I realise that I can’t heal in the place that made me sick. That’s why that last song on the record [‘Dig It’] feels a bit like a suicide note or a good letter, because it’s a bittersweet ending of realising that I’m fully on this path of healing now, but it’s going to mean I’ve got to kill part of myself.
In a candid moment, Sykes opened up about his struggles with addiction during the pandemic. "As soon as lockdown hit, I wasn’t in a good place. I had been feeding off the band's success without realizing it, and when it all stopped, I fell back into drugs and bad habits."
He also spoke about the amicable but significant split with Jordan Fish. "We reached a point where we weren’t happy as a unit. It was all a part of not stopping, and that fear of, ‘If we stop, we’re going to drop off, the band’s not going to be big any more, someone’s going to take over, someone’s going to be bigger and better than us’,”
Despite the challenges, Sykes emphasized there’s no bad blood. “I’m not going to sit here and go, ‘Oh, it was just creative differences and we wish him the best and we’re all on good terms, and blah, blah, blah’. It’s never like that, just like all breakups – they never end. Even the most amicable ones. There’s a split. It’s also very boring. There’s no headline there."
With the next chapter of "Post Human" on the horizon, fans are in for a dramatic ride. "This will be the third act – where things usually go south. Anything could change, but that’s what makes it exciting," Sykes teased.
As we eagerly await the next installment, one thing is clear: Bring Me The Horizon is far from finished, and the narrative journey they’re crafting is only just beginning. Buckle up, because if Sykes’ vision is anything to go by, it’s going to be a thrilling, emotional, and transformative ride.
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