Bleeding Through - Nine (2025)Release ID: 57877
The first new release from Bleeding Through in almost a decade, and my first exposure to the band since 2006's The Truth is a fun romp of death tinged metalcore. Bleeding Through are comfortable doing what they do best and Nine is a very comfortable slab of unapologetic 2000s melodic metalcore. But the band is also not so focused on the past that they cannot see what is going on in the world of deathcore at the moment, so they go the extra mile and add some bombastic symphonic sections. Some of them sound really good, others not so much. Personally, I found the symphonic elements of Nine to distract and become less impactful as the album continued.
Song wise, Nine has some decent choruses. Songs may be a little predictable, but at least Bleeding Through bother to add or subtract from the formula every once in a while to keep it fresh; whether that be adding a sung chorus, taking away a breakdown in favour of a more traditional bridge, or adding a guitar solo break. It keeps the album fresh, while also retaining the identity of the band in a way. I think that the band are stronger when playing more groove oriented tracks rather than the face melting thrashers, with "Path of Our Disease" standing out. The guest features are okay, with "War Time" sounding like a modern Shadows Fall song with I thought was pretty cool. Overall, the album is a little formulaic by Bleeding Through's standards, but they do enough to keep it engaging through a full listen. It has a couple standouts here and there, but the rest just sounds like modern metalcore slop to me.
Best Songs: Dead But So Alive, Path Of Our Disease, Emery
As with many other metalcore/melodic metalcore bands having been active in the past 25 years, Bleeding Through continues to stay true to their sound. They expand their horizons on the fast brutal side to make a heavy offering out of their aptly titled 9th album Nine!
It seems like they haven't lost much of their steam after really slowing their pace between albums. Nine is their first album in 7 years, a slightly longer gap than between The Great Fire and Love Will Kill All. They were still active before Nine though, releasing an EP titled Rage in 2022. And they have more of that rage in their ninth album, one of their most furious releases to date. Even that meme-worthy (two paths) cover art is filled with darkness and fire.
"Gallows" starts with a sample of Saruman (Christopher Lee) from Lord of the Rings saying "We have only to remove those who oppose us" then blasts off with the unique drumming fire and screaming fury that's what make this band so unique. "Our Brand is Chaos" has their usual chaotic brand of metalcore that made it big in This is Love, This is Murderous, throwing in their earlier blackened aspects and visceral lyrics. "Dead but So Alive" erupts into thrashy chaos, evolving into blazing soloing and the vocals of Brandan Schieppati and keyboardist Marta Demmel together in the chorus that makes an epic standout imprinted in your mind.
Next song "Hail Destruction" rips through face-tearing destruction until the 3-minute mark when everything halts then slowly makes its way back up for the searing soloing of guitar duo John Arnold and Brandon Richter. With all that, it almost comes close as the ultimate highlight for me. "Lost in Isolation" has more harmonic soloing crashing in, here courtesy of Doc Coyle from God Forbid and Bad Wolves. Other things to note are the ravaging drums and riffing, along more of the chorus dueling between Brandan and Marta. All of that surpass the previous track as the ultimate highlight of melody and intensity! The album has an intermission, with the slow piano/soprano vocal interlude "Last Breath". Then "Path of Our Disease" might just be the most "blackened Hatebreed" song I've heard since Underoath's first two albums.
"I Am Resistance" continues that speedy fury alongside the raging vocals of Comeback Kid vocalist Andrew Neufeld. Another special standout! Then "Emery" has more emotion while staying intense. The chorus throws back to their only full-on ballad "Line in the Sand" (The Truth). "War Time" is a violent banger with background vocals by Brian Fair (Shadows Fall), and the lyrics fire away as well. "Unholy Armada" has the last of the violent storm then ends with harmonic soloing as darkness gives way to light.
In a time when bands get more melodic for the sake of commercial success, Bleeding Through fight back against the trend by keeping their raw and vicious sound intact. Let's hope the band can continue making one album per year or two just like in their earlier days. We need more of the raging darkness!
Favorites: "Dead but So Alive", "Hail Destruction", "Lost in Isolation", "I Am Resistance", "War Time"
