It was only a matter of time before Bleeding Through made their grand return, coming back to a scene they helped shape (even if only indirectly) to ideally set a new standard. For as much as the metalcore / electronica blend has been abused and subsequently maligned, Bleeding Through original combination of hardcore, metal and the icy pomp of symphonic death metal was seen as revolutionary by so many, and while their Orange County peers Avenged Sevenfold may have become the bigger success story, the ripples this band had can still be felt today. Even so, 2012’s The Great Fire was a bit on the middling side, so with a few years on hiatus behind them, Love Will Kill All should herald the return of a re-energised band ready to blow modern metalcore wide open.
And does it ever. Even if Love Will Kill All mightn’t see Bleeding Through at their most progressive or original, it’s easily their most bluntly effective album in a while, merging house-sized grooves with the spice and slight theatricality of early-2000s metalcore, and topping it off with frigid synth-work that’s always given this band such a razor-like edge. Really, it’s Bleeding Through embracing their best features; tracks like End Us and Dead Eyes have that traditional metalcore feel, but they could hardly be called dated thanks to an immaculate production job that keeps everything tight and sharp without subsuming the almighty heft this band can bring.
And if that’s any indication of the form that Bleeding Through are on on this album, then the final product supersedes even that. There are no punches pulled whatsoever here, with Brendan Schieppati at his most vicious and menacing vocally on a track like the murderous No One From Nowhere, and especially Derek Youngsma’s drumming that acts as such a rock-solid backbone that this album really benefits from. That sense of brusqueness definitely works to Love Will Kill All’s advantage as well; this is an album that’s nearly an hour long, but the efficiency of the assault means it feels like a fraction of that, and that’s definitely to its advantage. Even on a track like No Friends, the Slipknot-esque centrepiece that’ll undoubtedly ruffle some feathers, it’s still so succinct in its muscle and bite that it’s remains to fit in perfectly.
Ultimately, it feels like the work of a band with nothing left to prove but still more to gain, and thus delivers an excellent example of revamping their sound without resting on their laurels in the slightest. Whether Love Will Kill All will propel Bleeding Through to metalcore’s forefront, even in the underground, is unlikely, but this is the sort of tight, laser-focused album that’ll continue to connect regardless, rather than feeling like a mere nostalgia trip. For everyone who’s been pining for a new Bleeding Through album for this long, it’s not hard to see why, and they won’t be disappointed.
8/10
For fans of: Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, All Shall Perish
Words by Luke Nuttall
‘Love Will Kill All’ by Bleeding Through is released on 25th May on Sharptone Records.
