Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Bleeding Through - Bleeding Through (2010)
What is it about metalcore getting such a bad rap?! Is it too emo? It is too hardcore? Is there not enough metal? I love metalcore as much as other metal genres and a few of those bands really stand out. Bleeding Through is one of the most elite. And that's mostly because they almost perfectly blend metal and hardcore.
The majority of Bleeding Through's material before Declaration is basically At the Gates-style death metal/melodeath mixed with hardcore. Declaration shows the band's black metal influence, and now they have more of that in their self-titled sixth album! The symphonic black metal influence is caused by the higher role of keyboards. They have the atmosphere and melody of black metal. Most songs have hyper-speed black metal riffing while mixing it with breakdowns and thrashy riffs.
The keyboard-symphonic opener "A Resurrection" is a fresh start in both of the song and title after leaving that trust-killing label Trustkill. Then in "Anti-Hero", the band time-travels back to 1995 Sweden for death metal bands At the Gates and Therion in that year and borrow their sound and adds some punk-like lyrics ("I’ve heard enough of you, f***ing go away!”). The tremolo riffs are sprinkled in there. "Your Abandonment" never abandons the band's mix of hardcore punk and symphonic black metal. For a song titled "Fifteen Minutes", they kept only about a quarter of that length. Still a kick-A song!
"Salvation Never Found" is an epic extreme anthem that tears your lungs apart until you can no longer breathe, and it has some clean singing only found in a few songs in this album. "Breathing in the Wrath" explores some mid-tempo while breathing in the faster wrath. "This Time Nothing Is Sacred" shows in the music and lyrics that there's nothing sacred, all just chaos and disarray. "Divide the Armies" has an interesting solo and more clean singing.
"Drag Me to the Ocean" drags you through more suspenseful chaos. "Light My Eyes" is shorter and a little cleaner but stands out more. "Slow Your Roll" is never slow! It has more significant black metal development, especially in the lyrics of searing poetry ("This sinking feeling in your soul will forever haunt you, disgusting apathy, no freedom from suffering"). "Distortion Devotion" is the album's 6-minute epic that stands out the most. I mean it's not as glorious as the previous album's "Sister Charlatan", but still... well, glorious! Once again, there's more clean-vocal drama.
The last 3 tracks stand out more than everything else in this album, but those other songs are still good and never suffer. Despite this album being not as great as most of the others, Bleeding Through has sealed their position in the small amount of metalcore bands that can please listeners. I'm so proud of this band....
Favorites: "Anti-Hero", "Salvation Never Found", "Divide the Armies", "Light My Eyes", "Distortion, Devotion"