A few years back we finally had the chance to catch Bleeding Through in the wild and even as casual fans, it was more than worth the wait having followed the band since 2003’s This Is Love, This Is Murderous (Again, casual fans here). But speaking of that almost 22-year old record, y’all remember opening track “Lost In A Hail Of Gun Fire”? Well, every track off the aptly titled ninth Bleeding Through record, NINE, shares that same intensity.
What we’re trying to say, kids, is that this new record is BRUTAL! The first three tracks alone deserve a spot in the Heavy Hall of Fame (Is that a thing???) with “Gallows” acting as the perfect gateway into NINE and bringing that signature sinister Marta Peterson synthetic air amidst an, ahem, hail of guitar noise from John Arnold and Brandon Richter and a prolific rhythmic pummeling out of drummer Derek Youngsma and Ryan Wombacher as Brandan Schieppati’s own signature vocal chops bark out an especially furious flurry of verses and choruses. “Our Brand Is Chaos” is a slower Groove-based number to start off with a killer hook that’s sure to be a crowd favorite before a speedy Metal onslaught reigns down and just when you think it’s completely unrelenting, “Dead, But So Alive” opens up with this stellar clean vocal chorus that’s harmonious and even heavenly at times followed by some straight up Old School Thrash riffage a la Sepultura circa Schizophrenia.
NINE also boasts a bevy of guests throughout with the first popping up on “Lost In Translation” as God Forbid jumps into the heaviness and adds to the Schieppati/Peterson vocal back and forth and later, Comeback Kid joins for the sick straight up shredding of “I Am Resistance”. Want some more cameos? Well, howzabout the recently reunited Shadows Fall who make an appearance on “War Time” and features Brian Fair and Schieppati executing a glorious call and response.
Elsewhere, “Path Of Our Disease” is just unhinged and causes us to ponder: Has Marta had a bigger vocal presence in BT lately? Because she didn’t when we were initially listening but is all over NINE and we are here for it! Now allow us to dive back into BT’s past for a sec as we feel this one in particular takes notes from the person responsible for producing 2008’s Declaration, Devin Townsend, with Marta in the Anneke Van Giersbergen role on this Deconstruction-like romp as these shreddy bits are exquisitely interspersed between Peterson’s synth lines.
Deeper in, “Emery” is a driven dirge with Richter and Arnold laying down a solid riffage foundation before Marta swoops in with an emotive chorus to offset Schieppati’s particularly vicious delivery. “Unholy Armada” is the one that concludes it all with an outpouring of heaviness but also expands upon Bleeding Through’s recent penchant for infusing massive melodies amongst all the METAL to make these closing moments a saccharine symphony of intense sonic delight.
NINE arrives through SharpTone Records and you can get yer pre-order on now by heading here. For more from Bleeding Through, hop on the information superhighway then hop off on these exits here or here for the latest BT news!