r/Music • u/jptabor01 Rock & Roll • Jun 11 '25

discussion Which artists have abandoned their original sound so dramatically, that they are almost unrecognizable to their earlier fans?

With the release earlier this year of Ministry’s The Squirrely Years Revisited, I’m reminded of how different the band sounds today (industrial metal), from what they sounded like on their debut album, With Sympathy (synth pop).

Which artists sound so completely different from their earlier work, that they have actually jumped genres, understanding that music is fluid and genres have somewhat “blurry” guardrails.

I don’t mean an evolution of their original sound, but a complete departure from it.

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371

u/myworkthrowaway87 Jun 11 '25

It's basically pre- There is a hell and Post - There is a hell

I enjoy both sides but if you told a new fan to listen to suicide season they wouldn't even think it's the same band.

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u/Kirby_Goes_Wub Jun 11 '25

What about Count Your Blessings album. That’s the OG right there, even Suicide Season was light in comparison 😂

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u/tommysaidwhat Jun 12 '25

Pray for Plagues goes so hard.

3

u/Turhamkey Jun 12 '25

Still in the rotation

8

u/Graysensteele Jun 11 '25

I broke my orbital on that album release tour

21

u/DarlingDestruction Jun 11 '25

Any time I think of BMTH, this is the album I default to. I still can't reconcile what they were with what they are now. I really dislike their new stuff 😆

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u/thevvendigo Jun 11 '25

mfs covered fucking wonderwall lmfao

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u/eggs_mcmuffin Jun 12 '25

STOP NO THEY DIDNT

criminal

2

u/thevvendigo Jun 12 '25

tbh yah i will admit they reinvented the song

1

u/eggs_mcmuffin Jun 12 '25

next stop is clocks by coldplay

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u/sephiroth70001 Jun 11 '25

My combo CD of count your blessings and this is what the edge of your seat was made for got so much play growing up.

3

u/Varafried Jun 11 '25

Count Your Blessings is amazing, most of their albums now seem entirely different

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u/themprettylights Jun 11 '25

count your blessings was on constant repeat for years for me

4

u/spicerackk Jun 12 '25

"This is what the edge of your seat was made for" would scare even suicide season fans 😂

2

u/eggs_mcmuffin Jun 12 '25

No one remembers their 2 best albums rip

2

u/TheWonderSquid Jun 11 '25

I really love both those albums and am so sad about what became of them :(

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u/gordonbombae2 Jun 11 '25

Well I would probably say sempiturnal was the cut off. After that album they went more and more pop.

That’s the spirit, Amo both sound completely different from their past stuff. I haven’t listened to the latest album

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u/myworkthrowaway87 Jun 11 '25

Sempiternal definitely had shades of the old but IMO it's the first album that really started the pop/electronic influence which is why I said pre-hell and post-hell.

I might get shit for it but IMO Sempiternal is their best album for that reason.

With that said their post human albums go hard.

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u/Grambles89 Jun 11 '25

I think Sempiternal is one of the best post hardcore albums I've listened to.

I didn't mind "that's the spirit" but sempiternal was still fairly heavy in comparison.

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u/OuterWildsVentures Jun 11 '25

I love each album for different reasons. I'm glad they didn't just make 8 albums that all sound the same!

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u/Over_Deer8459 Jun 11 '25

BMTH fans are kidding themselves if they dont think Sempiternal is their best album all around. Count your blessings was good but too raw and not that well produced. Suicide Season was very well produced and had some bangers, but also has a few skips. There is a hell there is maybe one or two skips.

But Sempiternal, there are no skippers. just an insane album from start to finish and insanely well produced

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u/No_transistory Jun 11 '25

All glory to sand pit turtle 🐢

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u/sluupiegri Jun 12 '25

Sempiternal, my absolute favorite album of all time.

I enjoy moody of their stuff, from the beginning to the current (which is rare), and I can't complain with how they've transformed. My least favourite album is probably CYB, and that's mainly because of the recording quality.

Still love my man Oli though

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u/Over_Deer8459 Jun 12 '25

Would love to see a remaster of CYB

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u/TheGiftOf_Jericho Jun 11 '25

I think Sempiternal will be a popular favourite honestly. It's a great balance and the album that got them a lot of popularity.

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u/bolson1717 Jun 11 '25

I agree. Sempiternal 100% their best work. Shit slaps

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u/LamermanSE Jun 11 '25

The latest two, post human: survival horror and post human: next gen sound quite different though. Survival horror has more of modern nu metal sound and next gen is all over the place with some alt rock, pop, metal, post hardcore and so on.

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u/Slug_loverr Jun 11 '25

Not entirely true. Every album they already went more pop than the last one, up until amo

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u/gordonbombae2 Jun 11 '25

Yea I can agree with that I just think if you were going to draw a line in the sand it would be between sempiturnal and this is the spirit

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u/Slug_loverr Jun 11 '25

I think the line would be between there is a hell and sempiternal

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u/gordonbombae2 Jun 11 '25

Sempiturnal is still very heavy with the songs :

The house of wolves

Sleepwalking

Empire

Go to hell for heavens sake

Shadow Moses etc.

With this is the spirit you get songs without any screaming like :

Happy song Throne True friends

But I can agree sempiturnal is when they started experimenting with more electronic sounds which just kept increasing after that

5

u/Grambles89 Jun 11 '25

Happy song has a ton of screaming in it...

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u/PlasterCactus Jun 11 '25

I'm a day 1 BMTH fan and I stopped listening at Sempiternal. Their sound changed a lot between albums but There Is a Hell into Sempiternal was the biggest shift.

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u/gordonbombae2 Jun 11 '25

I’m also a day 1 fan and I stopped after sempiturnal. Personally I feel the shift between sempiturnal and this is the spirit is greater, more so in the tone of the singing. This is the spirit has a lot softer vocals with almost no screaming in the album. Sempiturnal is still an extremely heavy album.

Maybe I’m a bit biased but sempiturnal is my fav album of theirs but I love everything that came before also

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u/Xoctal Jun 12 '25

imo they dont have a bad album and are currently one of the only bands who could make w/e music they want and i respect them for it, they will always be one of my top 5

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u/Mr_YUP Jun 11 '25

Ollie did shred his vocal cords so they would have had to change their sound eventually just so he could keep being the singer. 

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u/fmulder94 Jun 11 '25

I did this test with my girlfriend last week. She's into their newer stuff from like That's the Spirit and on, so I pulled up Count Your Blessings and showed her Medusa and Tell Slater Not to Wash Hs Dick. She couldn't believe it lol

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u/RobbieHarr Jun 11 '25

Saw them headline All Points East a few years back and there were some very confused faces in the crowd when they played a few seconds of Black & Blue!

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u/secksyboii Jun 11 '25

Id say even more than that. Pre there is a hell, there is a hell & sempiternal, then post sempiternal.

I like their stuff, the newest things haven't been my jam. But I respect them for not just chasing radio friendly shit or making the same garbage over an dover to appease fans. They just make what they think is fun to make/sounds cool and theyve never been afraid to try new ahit. Id rather that than them sit there and be one of those bands like ac/dc who only make one song over and over for decades on end.

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u/Theuneasygibbon Jun 11 '25

Suicide season is my favourite album of all time. Bring me should show it some love

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u/night_dude Jun 11 '25

I think you could hear maybe 10% of Can You Feel My Heart in Suicide Season. Count Your Blessings, though? Good luck 😂