Some bands make a career out of issuing the same-sounding album time and time again. Not so with the lads in Bring Me the Horizon. On their fifth studio album overall, That's The Spirit, the British band - singer Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, keyboardist Jordan Fish, bassist Matt Kean, and drummer Matt Nicholls - who was once upon a time known primarily for specializing in metalcore, has broadened their horizons musically, touching upon electro and alternative sounds. Nicholls spoke with BraveWords correspondent Greg Prato shortly after the release of That's The Spirit, to discuss the new disc.

BraveWords: Was it a conscious decision to touch upon a variety of different styles on the new album?

Matt Nicholls: "I don't think it was a conscious decision. I don't think we ever took a step back and said, 'This is what we want to do. This is what we want to go for.' I think everything just came out naturally. It's just a progression from starting the band. We've always tried to mix things up and change sounds or incorporate different sounds into our music every time we do a release. But I think this time; it was maybe the more drastic of that. We've really gone for it this time. But I think it was something that just happened from what we progressed on to."

BraveWords: I assume that the band listens to a wide variety of music?

Matt Nicholls: "Yes, it's definitely true. It's pretty much always been true. I guess when we were younger we were more into metal - faster, heavier metal. And we still listen to metal now, but it's been a long time since we started the band - it's been eleven years or something like that. But yeah, we listen to lots of different stuff. We can take influences from anything, but you're definitely right - we listen to a lot of stuff."

BraveWords: Were there any specific albums or artists that served as an influence on That's The Spirit?

Matt Nicholls: "I don't think so. I don't think our band has ever looked up to any other band - we've always just done what we wanted to do at the end of the day. I don't think there was any significant band - lots of different things we were influenced by, whether it's a band or a video game or film or a soundtrack. We take influence from a lot of things. I couldn't really put my finger on any one band."

BraveWords: How was it recording in Greece?

Matt Nicholls: "It was really good. Just really relaxed. When we recorded the 'Drown' single, we did it in Liverpool, England, and we did it ourselves. It was the most stress-free and relaxed recording we'd ever done. Instead of spending all our money on a big name producer, we just thought we'd do it ourselves, but we'd use some of that money to record in a nice, good studio. All we did was we Googled 'best studios in the world,' and Black Rock in Santorini came up as the top one. And we just said, 'Cool. We'll do it there.' The island itself is really nice. We got there when it was off-season - we had a month in off-season and then a month when it was on-season. When it was off, there was hardly anyone there and was really peaceful. It was just a really nice and relaxed environment to record in. It was paradise."

BraveWords: Does the album title have any special meaning?

Matt Nicholls: "It's our singer really who comes up with stuff like that. I guess it just stems from the album is all about seeing the good and the bad. The world is on its ass, basically, and it's all shit. That's where the phrase 'That's the spirit' comes from. That phrase is never used in a positive situation - it's only used when something bad is going on. It's always someone knowing it's shit or someone braving it. I guess that sums the album up and the lyrical content."

BraveWords: So, far there have been two singles released from the album, “Drown” and “Throne”.

Matt Nicholls: "'Drown' was something we wrote on tour and released it prior to the album, but put it on the album anyway…well, we re-recorded it and put it on the album, because we thought it fit. 'Drown' was something we needed to do, because we did the Wembley gig last year, and we wanted to release something to create a buzz and try to get people stoked for Wembley. And 'Throne' is a new one from the new record. We put 'Throne' out first because it's not too different from stuff we've done in the past, so I guess it was an easy way to break fans into the new stuff. The same thing with 'Happy Song,' I think if you preordered the album, you got 'Happy Song.' But I think those were the two songs not far away from the old stuff."

BraveWords: And this is the first album the band has recorded for Sony-Columbia.

Matt Nicholls: "The recording process is no different whatsoever. It's always been us doing our thing. It was just good to have a label like that backing the band. It's just taking the band to places that we never imagined possible. It's only a good thing to have something like that backing the band and we appreciate it?"

BraveWords: Future plans?

Matt Nicholls: "We have no idea. Just keep playing shows and keep trying to write good music. As long as people are into it, we'll just carry on doing the same thing and doing what we've always been doing. I guess just playing more shows - looking forward to it."