Plug in, zone out! Bring Me The Horizon’s Lo-files delivers a dreamy, genre-smashing lullaby for the digital age…

Words by Felix Bartlett | July 16, 2025

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For those who, like me, stumbled upon the classic ‘chill lo-fi beats to study and relax to’ playlists while writing their university dissertation, yet still yearned for that understandably lacking fix of metal, rejoice. Bring Me The Horizon have once again surprised us with a delightful offering in the form of Lo-files.

After a series of cryptic teasers across TikTok, the Sheffield shapeshifters have distilled 23 of their most explosive tracks, from Sempiternal to POST HUMAN: NeX Gen, into a hazy, hypnotic lo-fi mixtape that digs deeper into their discography better than any greatest hits album. Teaming up with producers like Casiio, No Spirit, and Mondo Loops, BMTH traded their mosh-pit fury for ambient melancholy, proving their songs are bulletproof even when stripped of their armour.

The opener, ‘canyoufeelmy<3.tmpx’, sets the tone: what was once a searing anthem now floats like a ghost in a vaporwave dream, its guitars dissolving into cosmic dust. The reimagined ‘[email protected]’ is even more startling with its Zelda-esque soundscape that replaces breakdowns with twinkling synths, as if the original track was left out in the rain and rusted into something beautifully eerie. ‘sL33pwalking.idl’ drifts by like a half-remembered lullaby, while ‘parasite.ev3’ pulses with the woozy disorientation of a 3 AM taxi ride through a neon city.

This latest outing is not without its faults, however, with some experiments falling more flat than others. Most notably, ‘med!cine.fbk’s lo-fi treatment saps some of the original’s urgency, and ‘d1g_it.core’s glitchy beats occasionally veer into background-music territory. But the highs outweigh the lows with ‘koolaid.xxo’ morphing from sinister swagger into a syrupy, off-kilter groove, and ‘shadowm0ses.frq’, once a blistering rallying cry, now feels like an anthem hummed through a weighted blanket.

Lo-files won’t replace the originals, nor should it. But as a companion piece, it’s revelatory, a reminder that great songs can thrive in any context. For longtime fans, it’s a nostalgic head-trip; for newcomers, it might just be the gentlest gateway into BMTH’s universe. Either way, it’s another bold stroke from a band that refuses to sit still and will serve us for now whilst we eagerly wait to see what the band have in store for us next.

Verdict: 💀💀💀💀

For fans of: Linkin Park, Casiio, Alex Yarmak

Lo-files is out now via RCA/Sony