Count Your Blessings | ||||
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Studio album by Bring Me the Horizon | ||||
Released | 30 October 2006 | |||
Recorded | September 2006 | |||
Studio |
DEP International Studios (Birmingham, West Midlands) |
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Genre | Deathcore | |||
Length | 36:09 | |||
Label | Visible Noise | |||
Producer |
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Bring Me the Horizon chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
About.com | |
AllMusic | |
Exclaim! | Favourable |
MetalSucks |
Count Your Blessings is the debut studio album by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon. Recorded at DEP International Studios in Birmingham with producer Dan Sprigg, it was originally released in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2006 by Visible Noise. The album was later issued by Earache Records in the United States on 14 August 2007. Count Your Blessings was supported by the release of music videos for two of the album's tracks: "Pray for Plagues" on 4 June 2007 and "For Stevie Wonder's Eyes Only (Braille)" on 6 March 2008.
Named after a lyric in the album's opening song "Pray for Plagues", Count Your Blessings is representative of the band's early deathcore sound, which was phased out on later releases and eventually abandoned in favour of other, less aggressive styles. Most band members recorded their parts individually, rather than the group doing so as a whole, with the central location of the studio blamed for distracting the young musicians. The album received some negative reviews, although it still reached the top 100 of the UK Albums Chart.
Following the release of their first extended play This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For in October 2004, Bring Me the Horizon toured extensively while writing new material for their full-length debut album. Due to the number of shows the band were playing at the time, much of the material was written quickly before recording was due to begin – drummer Matt Nicholls claimed that three songs were written in the space of two days due to the upcoming deadline. A number of songs are re-recordings of early demos that the band had recorded for a demo titled The Bedroom Sessions and in a broadcast session for the UK station Radio 1, namely "(I Used to Make Out With) Medusa", "Off the Heezay" and "Liquor & Love Lost" (then known as "Dragon Slaying").
Recording took place at DEP International Studios in Birmingham with producer Dan Sprigg, who had previously worked with bands including Cradle of Filth, Napalm Death and, more recently, Lostprophets. Frontman Oliver Sykes described the recording process as "an intense experience" due to the group's desire to make the best debut album they could, with biographer Ben Welch claiming that they "were starting to feel the pressure of all of the hype that was building around them" at the time. Due to the studio's location in the centre of the city, the young band members (all under 20 years old at the time) were often distracted and would not spend a lot of time in the studio; this meant that each individual member ended up recording the majority of their contributions to the album alone, rather than the full unit performing together.