The album was released on 11 September 2015,[1] and marks a departure from the group's metalcore roots, in favour of a less aggressive alternative rock and metal style.

[6] On 13 July, the band announced they had left their previous label Epitaph Records and signed fully with Sony Music subsidiaries RCA and Columbia.

[10] Similarly, Daniel Furnari of Blunt Magazine suggested that "That's The Spirit sees Bring Me The Horizon push things further than ever with a collection of stadium-standard alt-rock anthems more suited to Glastonbury than Warped Tour ... For perhaps the first time, Bring Me The Horizon have produced a record with no throwbacks to the Suicide Season days of outrageous mosh calls and downtuned riff insanity.

[5][25][26] Fish explains that "Throne" reflects the group's then current state of mind both musically and emotionally, going to say that it was one of the most straight forward songs they had recorded, but felt that it was an obvious choice for a single due to its immediate catchy-ness and level of energy.

[43] Daniel Furnari of Blunt Magazine wrote: "[On That's the Spirit,] Oli Sykes powers through every enormous chorus and infectious verse with a confidence and finesse that would have you believe he’s been singing like this for years.

[19] James Christopher Monger at AllMusic stated "What's most surprising is how natural it all feels, but that's due in large part to the long-form recalibration of the band's sound.

By entering the mainstream one limb (album) at a time, Bring Me the Horizon are merely reaping what they've sown, and longtime fans should already feel acclimated to the water."

In addition to Linkin Park, Monger compared the choruses from the album to Avenged Sevenfold, Thirty Seconds to Mars and late 1990s Metallica.

"[50] He named "Happy Song" as providing the band "rock-radio potential" and "Throne" as "an aggressive, exotic take on the groove-based synth-rock" that was popularised by Linkin Park.

[54] However, four days later, after one of the closest chart battles of 2015, Keep the Village Alive beat That's the Spirit to number one by a margin of less than 1,300 copies, denying Bring Me the Horizon their first ever chart-topper.