Bleeding Through
“This is Love, This is Murderous
Trustkill Records
“For a few seconds, this place was Armageddon. And there was a firefight!”
From the opening riffs of “Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire,” the first track off Bleeding Throug’s latest offering “This is Love, This is Murderous,” the band pummels the listener with blazing guitar riffs, thunderous drumming, hard-hitting bass work and seething, anger-infused vocals.
And this track (with an opening clip from the movie “The Boondock Saints”), is how Bleeding Through chooses to unleash its intricate, electronically-fused metal and hardcore styling to the masses”¦
Since its inception, the band has pulled itself out of the hardcore underground to solidify a name for itself, earning a mass of fans along the way including the metal-band Lamb of God and Davey Havok, lead singer for AFI.
Fronted by former Throwdown and Eighteen Visions guitarist Brandan Schieppati, Bleeding Through have crafted a multi-layer cornucopia of sounds: traded riffing of guitarists Scott Danough and Brian Leppke, the brutal trade-offs between bassist Ryan Wombacher and drummer Derek Youngsma and subtle atmospheric keyboarding from Marta. Each of the tracks off the band’s latest offering have a underlying sense of urgency and immediacy to them, with an interesting sense of old- and new-school metal meshing together.
Going back to the opening track of “This is Love”¦,” “Love Lost” explodes with a “pop, pop, pop” drum attack courtesy of Youngsma, before Danough and Leppke tear through their opening riffs, Marta adding effects in the background while Youngsma goes wild behind his set. Schieppati piles on his hardcore-style vocals over verse after verse before the song breaks down with a more mid-tempo speed and strong double-bass work. By the time the second bridge comes along, the lead vocals screaming “I want to see your face. Show me your true face!” are downright chilling. Then everything takes a 180 and Schieppati starts singing “And my heart belongs to you, so save me” with classic-style guitar riffing in the background. This is definitely the band’s best and most striking song to date.
Another strong track on “This is Love”¦” is “On Wings of Lead,” which sounds oddly reminiscent of In Flames. “On Wings” feels like a perfect metal track: solid riffs, really tight bass and drum back-and-forths and vocals that are turgid with anger, yet not too abrasive. The subtle keyboards add just the right texture to the song’s undercurrent of melancholy.
The disc’s title-track is a perfect example of the depth apparent in Bleeding Throug’s music. Opening with abusive riffing, the music steadily builds up speed through its steam-roller-like force, eventually flourishing into a full metal juggernaut with massive guitar parts and superb double-bass drumming. But just below the surface there’s a sense of melody, personified by the barely-there keyboards. Schieppati’s vocals hold the entire piece together as he growls, screams and sings over the orchestration.
The effect of Marta’s keyboards are more noticeable in songs like “City of the Condemned” (with a keyboard opening and bridge) and “Mutilation” (with more prominent keyboards throughout the track).
The only song that really seems out of place on “This is Love”¦” is the minute-and-a-half heavy-hitting “Sweet Vampirous.” Being so short, the song really doesn’t have any chance to evolve and, in turn, seems underdeveloped and repetitive.
“This is Love, This is Murderous” is a great addition to any hardcore or metal fan’s collection. There are slight problems overall with the release, but it’s a strong outing nonetheless.
“I’ll fight you with every ounce of strength I have left. I’ll seal it with a bullet and a kiss. So look at your horror.”
— From “Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire.”
