Orange County, CA-based metalcore outfit
Bleeding Through’s eponymous sixth album (and first for Oregon’s Rise Records) strikes the perfect balance between punk, grindcore, and symphonic metal. The latter, dutifully honored by keyboardist Marta’s instrumental opener, “A Resurrection” (a title that may serve as a tip of the hat to the demise of the group’s public battle with former label Trust Kill), falls right in line with intro-heavy Scandinavian death metal acts like
Therion and
At the Gates, and lyrics that range from classic punk swagger (I’ve heard enough of you/Fucking go away” [“Anti-Hero”]) to vintage black metal-infused refrigerator poetry (“This sinking feeling in your soul will forever haunt you/Disgusting apathy, no freedom from suffering” [“Slow You Roll”]) swim side by side in the grim waters of disillusion. Lean, deafening, and effective in its brutality,
Bleeding Through may not have brought anything new to the table, but at least it brought everything else. ~ James Christopher Monger