It is no secret that some ‘bands’ explode before they ever play a show: they post a clip to TikTok and BAM! Others have been underdogs since Day 1, fighting to exist in an overpopulated scene of recycled stupidity. Very much the latter, Southern California’s Bleeding Through are happy to embrace their roles as anti-heroes in a world of carbon copies. Now 25 years strong, the quintet is ready to unleash hell on NINE—set for release on February 14, 2025, via SharpTone Records.
Staying power: some bands have it while others do not. From 2002’s door-opening Portrait of the Goddess and 2003’s seminal This Is Love, This Is Murderous, the band has forged a career with each new chapter, moments that include 2006’s The Truth, 2012’s The Great Fire, and, most recently, 2018’s Love Will Kill All. They have been to hell and back—and this is the realization of their purest form! NINE proudly represents a quarter of a century for these Metalcore titans, as well as being, appropriately, their ninth full-length collection. Upon digesting these 11 tracks, it is apparent why the album did not require a flashy title or neon cover art. Simply put, the music howls and writhes for itself!
No sane individual would expect Bleeding Through—Vocalist Brandan Schieppati, Guitarists Brandon Richter and John Arnold, Bassist Ryan Wombacher, Drummer Derek Youngsma, and Keyboardist/Vocalist Marta Peterson—to hold back. Thus, it’s no shock that from the outset (“Gallows’), the sextet explodes with an immense amount that dares listeners to doubt. The layered vocals that deliver the song’s succinct choruses are appropriately haunting, a moment of melody amidst the firestorm.
And a conflagration it is. Throughout the album, Schiepatti’s vocals are stronger than ever as his bandmates craft a deviant whirling dervish around every syllable. From vile wit (“Our Brand Is Chaos”) to soul cleansing (“Last Breath”), sing-alongs with friends (“I Am Resistance,” featuring Comeback Kid’s Andrew Neufeld) to the utterly shocking (“Emery”), no stone is left upturned and painted black. It is an album that transports us from the Tasmanian devil of “Dead, But So Alive” to the counterstrike of “War Time” (featuring Brian Fair of Shadows Fall), all as it makes stops to spotlight Peterson’s vocal talents (“Path Of Our Disease”) and Richter’s guitar finesse (“Unholy Armada”), pay homage to the band’s musical past (“Hail Destruction”), and toy with extremes (“Lost In Isolation,” featuring Doc Coyle of Bad Wolves & God Forbid). There’s a whimsical sense of nostalgia to these new songs, each of which is the heaviest and darkest material we have seen from Bleeding Through while simultaneously being the most melodic.
As it embraces and lambastes the nightmarish oubliette of humanity, NINE sees Bleeding Through at its finest hour: matured musicians who are stronger than ever as a unit. Though many bands would not dare to push boundaries and explore beyond the sound that has become synonymous with their name, underdogs have nothing to lose, right? And so, with a solid rooting in all that has previously taken their powerful name, the quintet eschews expectations. It is exactly as Schieppati claims: “. . . Bleeding Through in its purest form.” For this, Cryptic Rock gives NINE 5 of 5 stars. Because we might only be halfway through February, but this is one of the Best Albums of 2025!
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