Bring Me The Horizon fans are convinced that they’ve stumbled upon a big secret, which is hidden inside the band’s brand new album.
After months of waiting, ‘POST HUMAN: NeX GEn’ – the follow-up to 2020’s ‘POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR’ – arrived last week. It was scheduled to arrive last September after being announced during the band’s headline debut at Download Festival. However, the record was later delayed due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
It is BMTH’s first album since the sudden departure of longtime bandmate Jordan Fish, who had been a part of the line-up since 2012.
Now, as fans continue to dig deep into the tracklist, it has emerged that a huge secret may have been hidden in the LP, and it’s got fans talking.
As highlighted on the Bring Me the Horizon subreddit, one devoted listener noticed something seemed unusual with the very end of ‘Dig It’ – the last track on the album – and decided to explore the off-noise a little further by opening the song in audio editing software. When there, they allegedly noticed that a spectrogram was embedded in the song, which also showed a QR code within (via Loudwire).
Upon scanning the QR code, they found that it led them to what appeared to be a secret website that asked for a code.
Soon, fans noticed that the number that needed to be inputted was 93934521 – the same serial number that is seen on the cover art, written in the head of the M8 character.
While it isn’t yet fully clear what the website contains, the discovery has intrigued fans and led to a lot of speculation about what Oli Sykes and co. have on the way. The most common theories on the subreddit suggest that some bonus tracks will be included on the site, or at least some instrumental demo versions of the original tracklist.
Some have also claimed that they have found restricted folders on the site, which will no doubt contain a plethora of easter eggs. However, additional passwords to access these have not yet been shared.
As shared by Loudwire, some fans have been so eager to check out the full extent of the website that there have been reports of the site experiencing a “hack” on its first day of operation. According to the report, developers temporarily took the site down and shared an update with fans not to spoil the adventure.
“It appears user/s have been illicitly hacking into the M8 server to decode hidden secrets,” read a message from M8. “It’s my duty to inform you that this behaviour is both naughty and counterproductive!
“You see, the whole idea of this program is to unravel the mysteries at a tantalizing pace, allowing everyone to enjoy the thrill of discovery. By bypassing the system and sharing the secrets prematurely, you’re spoiling the fun for everyone!”
Last June, Sykes spoke about the sound of the new record with NME, calling it “unhinged”: “I wouldn’t say it’s a hyper-pop album, but I’ve definitely been inspired by that world… As you become a bigger band, things do get more polished. I want to go the opposite way. Let’s be unhinged, let’s stop trying to make all the edges smooth.”
The vocalist provided a further update to us this March when we saw Bring Me The Horizon at the BRITs. “It’s nearly finished, but it’s not finished,” Sykes told NME. “Every time we think we’ve got it, we get another song… It’s going to be right good though, it’s our best album ever… Worth the wait.”
Following it’s surprise release, NME gave the album a four-star review.
“Few modern rock bands have made an album that is such a bombardment of sound and colour. Post-Jordan Fish, they continue to be what they’ve always been: a creative force that transcends the personalities of its individuals,” it read.
“It entirely justifies the four-year wait, which already feels like ancient history. Buckle up – because this is still BMTH’s world, and we’ll be living in it for quite some time yet.”
More recently, the frontman explained how rumours the band would be collaborating with Billie Eilish arose.