Bring Me the Horizon's founding members came from diverse musical backgrounds within metal and rock. Matt Nicholls and Oliver Sykes had a common interest in American metalcore such as Norma Jean and Skycamefalling, and used to attend local hardcore punk shows. They later met Lee Malia, who spoke with them about thrash metal and melodic death metal bands like Metallica and At the Gates; Malia had also been part of a Metallica tribute band before meeting the pair. Bring Me the Horizon officially formed in March 2004, when the members were aged 15 to 17. Curtis Ward, who also lived in the Rotherham area, joined Sykes, Nicholls and Malia on drums. Bassist Matt Kean, who was in other local bands, completed the line-up. Their name is taken from a line of dialogue spoken by Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, in which Sparrow says: "Now, bring me that horizon."
