Bleeding Through - The Great Fire Review
They haven’t reached the heights of This Is Love, This Is Murderous, but they’ve come pretty close, and that in itself, is enough to make this album a success.
rating: 3.5
Way back in 1999, in the town of Woodlake, California, a band was formed from the fractured pieces of previous projects. This band became known as Bleeding Through, and its still going strong to this day. The band was first formed by vocalist Brandan Schiepatti (who was associated with other hardcore bands, Eighteen Visions and Throwdown), guitarists Javier Van Huss (Eighteen Visions, The Mistake and Enewetak) and Scott Danough, bassist Chad Tafolla and drummer Troy Born (Taken). With this line-up, the band played a few shows and recorded a rough demo, which started to attract the band more attention. A full-length album, Dust To Ashes, was then released in 2001, but with a different line-up. Guitarist Van Huss had left the band, so bassist Tafolla took his position as guitarist, which resulted in Vijay Kumar (Roundhouse, Cat Burglar) filling the bass position and the recruitment of a keyboard player, Molly Street. At that time, adding keyboards to a hardcore band was quite a distinctive thing to do, as it would bring black metal influences to the sound. However, this only added to the growing popularity of the band, as not only was a female playing in a predominantly masculine scene and band, but the element of the keyboards added a different, unconventional aspect to their sound which set them apart from other hardcore bands. However, Bleeding Through has had problems with its line-up since the beginning, and not long after the release of Dust To Ashes, drummer Troy Born left and was replaced by Derek Youngsma (Cast In Stone) and Brian Leppke replaced Tafolla and Ryan Wombacher replaced Vijay Kumar as bassist. The second album, Portrait Of The Goddess, was then released with this line-up, although Kumar did play bass on the album, but was replaced soon after the release. This second album furthered the bands reputation as a burgeoning force in the underground hardcore scene, and it was evident they were soon going to go on to bigger and better things. The band got the recognition and success theyd strived for with the release of This Is Love, This Is Murderous, which was released in 2003. Its the bands most successful album to date, with 125,000 copies sold. Its an album that set the benchmark for their future releases: its still as popular and it also sounds just as good now as it did then. Soon after the release, Molly Street left the band and was replaced by Marta Peterson. In 2007, The Truth was released, and although it went to number 1 on the Top Independent Albums Chart, some long-time fans thought the band had taken a step back from their previous release which, considering the quality of This Is Love, isnt such a bad thing, but it still brought some bad criticism of the album. It was during 2007 that Scott Danough left the band and was replaced by Jona Weinhofen of I Killed The Prom Queen fame. In 2008, Declaration was released. The people whod criticised The Truth also laid into Declaration. This was justified, though, as the album was the weakest release the band had put out there and it seemed as if the passion and resolution the band had had with previous releases was no longer there. It was a disappointing release, one that came nowhere near to justifying the bands popularity, and it would be a shame if people looking to get into the band started with Declaration, its on a totally different spectrum to the quality of their other work. In May 2009, Weinhofen left the band and was replaced by Dave Nassie, formerly of No Use For A Name. 2010 saw the release of their eponymous album, which did put some criticisms to bed, but failed to create the buzz that This Is Love, This Is Murderous and their earlier albums had. However, even though the quality of the album still wasnt what was expected, it still sold relatively well and saw the band embark on a tour of Europe, Japan and Australia. For newer fans, there were some pleasing aspects to the album, such as Schiepatti seeming to have rediscovered his vocals and anguished lyrics, but there were also technicalities, such as refined guitar-work and a re-introduction of how effective the keyboard can be within the bands sound. But, as always, there were criticisms and many fans thought the band would never reach the heights of This Is Love, after listening to the 2010 release. Despite not yet bettering themselves, the band still seems to have kept a dedicated fan-base. Can the new album, The Great Fire, live up to the popularity the band has still managed to maintain? Or will it be another disappointment, which, if it is, may be the final straw for many fans. It opens up with The March, an atmospheric, slow-building track that makes the most of a slow start to utilise fast-paced, measured drumming, dark riffs and haunting keys, which leads into the second track, Faith in Fire. This track shows Schiepattis angry, uncompromising vocals at a level which has been sorely missed by the band. The breakdown is back-to-basics work but it works extremely well, coupled with Petersons black metal inspired keys, and drumming that uses double-bass technique to full potential. Its an angry, visceral assault on your ears, and its pleasing to see the band sounding as dark, if not darker, than on their earlier releases older fans will be pleased to hear this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LoxCwXMqqE Walking Dead is a furious, ominous track that truly shows the bands influences of black metal, hardcore and metal working together to achieve maximum potential. The guitars are heavy and dark, the drumming frantic and well-structured and the vocals range from low to high screams for an eerie, sinister effect. The keyboard is the strongest on the album here, and it shows that without them, Bleeding Through may have just been another hardcore band because it sets their sound apart. Trail Of Seclusion has a bleak, desolate opening that utilises a great guitar solo perfectly but thats soon eaten away by Schiepattis irritated and angry vocal style, which is backed up by, yet again, tremendous drumming that glues the track together. The clean vocals work really well, as they provide respite for the listener from the dark, absorbing sound that Bleeding Through create. Back To Life, the final track, is a solid finale. The guitars are delicately picked in sections, then transgressinto heavy breakdowns and riffs. The clean vocals, again, are pretty effective, especially when Come back to life / return to this earth is sung without any musical backdrop behind it. What makes this track, though, is how neat is. It doesnt do anything unusual, but what it does do is bring the album to its end without causing a fuss. Bleeding Through has an album here that proves theres plenty more theyve got to give. They havent reached the heights of This Is Love, This Is Murderous, but theyve come pretty close, and that in itself, is enough to make this album a success. Bleeding Through's new album The Great Fire is available from tomorrow.