Bleeding Through have come a long way since their last album, This Is Love…This Is Murderous. As pioneers of the Metalcore scene, the band have thankfully gone some way to ditching their ties to it, forging ahead with a much more abrasive, gripping sound. Still, we have the thundering music and coarse vocals, but instead of sounding like plain old Metalcore, the band has managed to step out on their own, upping the ante considerably.Brandan’s vocals have particularly improved a great deal. Firstly, his (predominant) roar bears more in common with Melodic Death Metal bands such as Arch Enemy and Dark Tranquillity, while his clean vocals are far less Emo. Speaking of his clean vocals; I’m a little disappointed. On occasion they sound less confident than before. Whatever the reason for this, there’s little doubt that live, he is still an imposing vocalist. However, on stand-out track, "Kill To Believe", his singing does sound very good.
With stellar performances from all members of the band, this is a treat to listen to. Guitars duelling with each other, crushing the senses, drums and bass pummelling our ears, and Marta’s keyboards adding extra dimensions to the band’s sound. Overall, the song-writing has greatly improved, with these cuts easily proving to be their best – not to mention heaviest – material. The songs are shorter, on the whole, which also gives the album a great pace that never lets up – at times, This Is Love… tended to get a little bogged down and distracted by longer tracks, sapping some of it of the frenetic energy these guys display in a live setting. With these songs, the mosh-pits at their shows will be bigger and better, not to mention irresistible.
It’s good to know that bands are finally deciding to pursue more individual paths in extreme music, as really the Metalcore scene was long overdue an overhaul and spring clean. For those who were fond of their old sound, do not despair! Bleeding Through are still recognisable as the same band, and have not completely rid themselves of their roots. This is a progression, rather than a reinvention.
If you’re looking for convincing, angry, frenetic and impeccable metal, then The Truth is an album you should look into getting your mitt on.
Although it is far too early to say for sure, I think Bleeding Through might just have released one of the best extreme metal albums 2006 will see (I’d be truly amazed if any Metalcore band managed to produce anything more immediate, individual and stylistically superb).
Bottled fury at its best, The Truth ensures that Bleeding Through will still be around after Metalcore has been relegated to the bargain-bin of music history.
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