Nothing is over. Remember in the early 2000s when Metalcore earned its name by actually being a blend of Metal and Hardcore? Southern California was home to many of Metalcore’s pioneers, bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, Eighteen Visions, and Bleeding Through. Now, in 2018, some of these bands have stuck to their guns while others have gone soft, but definitely not Bleeding Through. In fact, Friday, May 25, 2018, the quintet triumphantly returns to save the dying genre that they helped pioneer with Love Will Kill All, thanks to SharpTone Records.
For all basic purposes, in 2014, these trailblazers called it a day and took to civilian life. For Bleeding Through – named for the notion that, “whether black, white, red, brown, yellow, religious, straight or gay, we all… bleed through this life the same” – the past fifteen years had involved grinding it away, year after year, to promote their unique blend of all things deathly heavy with albums like 2001’s Dust to Ashes, 2003’s pivotal This Is Love, This Is Murderous, 2006’s The Truth, and their presumed final release, 2012’s The Great Fire. Sharing stages with everyone from AFI as well as Slipknot to Hatebreed and Tool, Bleeding Through had built a solid reputation for themselves and their no-holds-barred, energetic and frenzied live show. Alas, all great things must often come to an end…
…Or so it was thought! In 2018, reinvigorated and ready to once again take names, Bleeding Through – Vocalist Brandan Schieppati, Guitarist Brian Leppke, Bassist Ryan Wombacher, Drummer Derek Youngsma, and Keyboardist Marta Peterson – return with their eighth studio release, Love Will Kill All. The 12-song collection sees the band returning with a full-throttle explosion of renewed energy and inspiration, musical precision, and some of Schiepatti’s most personal lyrics to date.
Love Will Kill All kicks off to the hymnal introduction of “Darkness, A Feeling I Know,” a promise that the blackness and the ugliness remain the same. This ominous oath builds to explode into second single/video “Fade Into The Ash,” a pummeling operation that pits Schieppati’s infernal growls against heavy symphonics thanks to the exceptional Peterson, and a jackhammering pulse from Youngsma, Leppke, and Wombacher. All the glitter and Gothic allure remains, promising that Bleeding Through 2.0 is still entirely magical!
The vicious assault of “End Us,” an attack on those that ruin everything with their self-serving natures, sees melody infiltrating its catchy choruses. Similarly, the band continues the unrelenting chaos on the emotionally and sonically slaughtering “Cold World.” The graveyard dance of “Dead Eyes” is perhaps Bleeding Through at their most infectious, even, dare it be said, dance-able. Meanwhile, there is clearly still plenty to inspire their aggression, and “Buried” sees a destructive Schiepatti hellbent on burying your disgracefulness.
Perhaps the album’s sole misstep is a bizarre, robotic voice introducing “BT 2018” before the beginning of the anthemic “No Friends,” a slaughtering of false friends, you know, those “true friends” who stab you in the front. This flows perfectly into the album’s first single/video, “Set Me Free,” a definite display of the mindset going into Love Will Kill All. A solid representation of the album as a whole, this murderous flaying of the unfaithful, the nonbelievers, those that black out the light, injects melody and haunting keys to weave together a sound that is entirely characteristic of Bleeding Through and yet fresh for 2018 and their glorious return. Ultimately, this was the spot-on choice for first single!
“I am oblivion, now follow me” is the rallying cry that ignites the dynamite of “No One From Nowhere,” while “Remains” traffics in the triumphant feel of surviving, thrusting your might into the face of the enemy until they choke. Cue the live sing-alongs! As they near the end of the collection, “Slave” sees Schieppati howling vengeful promises alongside a jackhammering assault, before the introspective “Life” wraps up the entire package with an epic, bloody bow, much in thanks to the vocal contributions of Peterson, who soars in the perfect complement to Schieppati’s emotional grit.
Dark, dingy, defying all the odds, Bleeding Through may have amped up their melodic elements, but they remain entirely pummeling, a destructive crush of Metal that you need in your life. Firing on all cylinders, the band have authored an album that is the perfect organic transition from then to now; never leaving behind what once was, but fully embracing their exciting rebirth. If you are too giddy to know what to stream first, check out “Dead Eyes,” “No Friends,” “Set Me Free,” and “Remains,” but you truly need to hear the entirety of Love Will Kill All. Hell, you should own it too, and probably a t-shirt, as well! Still giddy like school-children that Bleeding Through are back, CrypticRock gives Love Will Kill All 4.5 of 5 stars.
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