When a band collectively turns ten years old, there’s a shift that occurs—one that establishes the band’s contributions to whichever genre they play in as a permanent one, resonating for generations to follow. While many bands manage to break into double digits, few manage to make it to twenty—which means, just months away from kissing their teens goodbye, Bleeding Through are truly an act integral to contemporary heavy music. When Spin magazine called Bleeding Through a “band to watch,” and Revolver heralded the group as one that was shaping the “future of metal”—both 2004—it would seem unlikely that either publication was hinting at what the group have become now. Working incessantly since early 1999, this crushing Californian metal act combine hardcore, symphonic and death metal in a maelstrom of magnificent aggression, weaving melody and mayhem together into a chaotic quilt. Dedicated to writing, recording and touring in a way that would cast countless acts to shame, Bleeding Through are a band that many fans of extreme music may cite as one of their first truly “heavy” bands—and years later, they hold up just as strong, if not more so.
Formed in 1999, Bleeding Through have run the gamut of countries, labels, genre stylings and immense, genre-defining releases, influencing several generations of artists since their inception. Named for the notion that, “whether black, white, red, brown, yellow, religious, straight or gay, we all…bleed through this life the same—thus Bleeding Through,” the band have taken that passionate, poignant impetus and brought it to life with every year since their debut full-length record, Dust to Ashes. Since their 2001 album, the band have released seven full length records (with five of them charting within the top 50 U.S. Indie releases for their respective year) and toured in Europe, alongside the likes of All Shall Perish and Caliban, as well as alongside Slipknot, Unearth and Lamb of God at 2004’s Ozzfest. Their career has been a lengthy and star-studded one, with monstrous successes parallel to their dedication to delivering a devastating—yet melodic and entrancing—infusion of metal and hardcore to fans worldwide. Their journey, while remarkable, has not been without its hiccups, leading to the band’s 2014 hiatus and what many considered to be the end of the band’s career—until now.
With nearing an hour’s worth of new music on Love Will Kill All, the group’s return-to-form under SharpTone Records, the band emerge from their slumber with renewed energy, aggression and musical precision. Effortlessly blending scathing, skin-peeling metallic elements with hard-hitting hardcore and jaw-dropping symphonic elements with a brash take-no-prisoners attitude, Bleeding Through inflict pain and awe in equal amounts with every razor-sharp cut their forthcoming effort has to offer. Coupled with a new label, Bleeding Through have been granted a new lease on life—and the ears of the heavy-music loving masses—as Love Will Kill All is a collection of coming-home anthems from heavy music’s prodigal sons returned to retake their throne.