When Bleeding Through originally announced that they called it day back in 2014, quite a few metaphorical tears where shed within the international metalcore scene. Founded almost 20 years ago in 1999, the Californian metalcore group arose to prominence in their respective scene following their 2003 release This Is Love, This Is Murderous. The album, and the records that were released in the following years, helped to usher in a new wave of American metalcore that was encapsulated within the expanding NWOAHM. It was a promising time not just for metalcore, but American heavy music as a whole, with many young eyes turning to the once alien and disagreeable culture of heavy music in search of solace, community and for some, a way to rebel. Whilst Bleeding Through did help to define and pioneer what was essentially mainstream metalcore, many an act who came after helped polish and hone it into something more extraordinary. Whilst Bleeding Through have made a return, their latest album, Love Will Kill All, is somewhat of a record that hasn’t acknowledged the passing of time. Whilst metalcore and deathcore are genres that are still evidently prominent today, they’re not atypically perceived as the most intelligent, gracious or subtle of genres when it comes to the translations of meanings. Sadly, Love Will Kill All isn’t a record that challenges this stereotype. The record opens with an obnoxious death organ and what sounds likes vocalist Brandan Schieppati reciting the shallow laments of a 14-year-old who isn’t allowed to buy Fortnite currency with his mum’s credit card. It’s cliched, adolescent, try hard, it perfectly establishes the blanketing tone of this record. Love Will Kill All is a record that revels in the established stereotypical tropes and conventions that defined metalcore in a negative aspect. The lyrical structures within this record are mostly composed of the vague, aggressive statements featuring emphasis on the swears. Whilst this was an atypical trope utilized by more younger deathcore bands, Bleeding Through are an act who have been through such adolescent motions in their youth, and furthermore, should be past such a stage where the resort to using such generic conventions for emphasis. Of course though, the lyrical concepts within deathcore and metalcore take second place to the musical integrity structures and symphonies, the balance of aggression and melody, emotion and brutality. With this in consideration, whilst Bleeding Through try to channel a multitude of subgenres within this record, such as metalcore, deathcore and symphonic metal, the majority of tracks present feel haphazardly thrown together. Certain segments of tracks go from conventional metalcore to sounding like a Dimmu Borgir b-side in a sonic collapse intended and masked as an act of structural progression. Even the vast majority of the riffs, chords, progressive structures and breakdowns feel recycled and re-arranged in a vain attempt to add variation through familiarity. However, there are expectations to such a statement. ‘Fade Into The Ash’ features a solid structure with a rousing chorus and subtle symphonic elements that compliment the wall of static and blast beats featured. Similarly, ‘No Friends’ presents an obnoxious, yet contagious, hardcore oriented stomp and swagger that’s infectious despite it’s arrogance. In all, to enjoy Love Will Kill You in anyway one must attempt to be ignorant to the advancements made in metalcore throughout the years and appreciate such aggressive arrogance featured in any possible. Score: 5/10 facebook:/bleedingthrough twitter:/bleedingthrough
