Hey, it's Jackie Arias taking over for Stan Sy on this edition of #ThemeSongTuesday because it's about a band that's close to my heart. Seriously, I have two tattoos dedicated to them.
If you were watching NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day yesterday, you most likely heard their official #NXTLoud theme, "Obey" by Bring Me the Horizon featuring Yungblud. This is the second time the British rock band had a song featured in an NXT pay-per-view—the first was "Throne" during 2015's Takeover: Respect. Both songs hit hard in their own way, but "Obey" is special for how timely it is.
First off, the song is part of BMTH's pandemic-era EP Post Human: Survival Horror. The nine-track album basically used the fuckery of 2020 as its backdrop, which explains why you'll feel anger and sadness while listening—or maybe that's just me because it literally became the soundtrack of my life.
Anyway, vocalist Oli Sykes said in a Forbes interview that "Obey" was "very much inspired by everything that's going on, and very much from the side of the oppressor." He talks about how people have started to realize that leaders might not have our best interest in mind and how we should be standing up against the injustices that are happening around us.
I think it's important to preface that BMTH and Yungblud are from the U.K., a country led by the British equivalent of Donald J. Trump, Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Yungblud also attended the Black Lives Matter protests when he was in Los Angeles. So it's no surprise that they collaborated on such an aggressive track.
It's also personally funny that NXT chose this particular song considering how WWE is dealing with COVID-19 and the McMahons' friendship with Trump. Just an observation.
Now, for the technical aspect. "Obey" is a combination of BMTH's genres throughout the years. When the band started out, they were known as a metalcore band with Oli fry-screaming and growling in every track. They later incorporated electronic elements when music producer and keyboardist Jordan Fish joined the band and worked on their 2013 album Sempiternal. You would hear the marriage of metalcore and electronic styles in their succeeding albums That's the Spirit and amo, but with less of Oli's screams. (The theory among the bandom was that he permanently damaged his vocal cord, but he debunked that in a series of tweets.)
With "Obey," rock fans are treated to heavy guitar riffs, catchy lyrics, and a nice combination of Oli and Yungblud's screams. For long-time BMTH fans like myself, it felt like listening to some of their old stuff again. Also, you can't ignore the awesome mecha anime-inspired music video.
If you thought "Obey" was a banger as it played during Vengeance Day, then do yourselves a favor and listen to the whole Post Human: Survival Horror EP, especially if the pandemic and everything else in between has fucked you up over the past year. If you need more convincing and you love video games, "Ludens" from Death Stranding is in there too. Enjoy.
Header photo courtesy of Oli Sykes' Instagram account
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Jackie Arias (@bouvierx) is a writer and former content creator for a feminist lifestyle website. Aside from casually catching up on wrestling news, you can find her listening to music and playing video games she can never finish while drinking copious amounts of coffee. Her Twitter and CuriousCat are open for story suggestions and comments—or photos of your cats.
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