Best known as a stalwart metalcore band, Bleeding Through has shed their previous identity in favor of another trend–deathcore. However, unlike many of their peers, Bleeding Through actually knows the metal they play and execute it all while maintaining the thick, slightly under-produced, keyboard enhanced sound that made them so popular to begin with.

Bleeding Through has always been a metal band first and foremost, with an obvious deep respect for hardcore, and that is why I believe their latest incarnation, 2008’s Declaration, works for them. Hip hop culture, straight billed caps, and scratchy logos are not what Declaration is about, this album fights to play deathcore, a very common form of metal these days, but in a way that puts them above all the trendy bullshit. Bleeding Through are not everyone’s favorite band, but they have a loyal following, and it’s because they have maintained a relatively unique sound throughout their career, both through their highs and lows, and that concept is completely accute on Declaration, making it a strategic example of a metal band staying commercially viable, all while pleasing the fans that bought their records back when they were just starting. I commend the band for this, and the fact that Declaration is actually a solid album that can stand on it’s own two feet makes this event even more sweet.

I have to admit, I had lost hope in Bleeding Through after the monumental disaster that was their 2006 album The Truth, which was simply full of forgettable, and sometimes awful songwriting. I was always a fan of Bleeding Through before The Truth and I am very glad that Declaration works! Will I say that this record is a year end candidate? Absolutely not, but it’s not forgettable either, and definitely will keep Bleeding Through from fading away like many of their peers have already.

GOOD

Top Tracks: French Inquisition, Reborn From Isolation,

Similar Artists: Kalmah, The Absence, Heaven Shall Burn, The Black Dahlia Murder, All Shall Perish

1.    Finis Fatalis Spei    01:55
2.    Declaration (You Can’t Destroy What You Can Not Replace)    03:48
3.    Orange County Blonde and Blue    02:41    [view lyrics]
4.    Germany    03:23
5.    There Was a Flood    05:48
6.    French Inquisition    04:13
7.    Reborn from Isolation    04:31
8.    Death Anxiety    03:30
9.    Beneath the Grey    03:32
10.    Seller’s Market    02:39
11.    Sister Charlatan 08:48

Brandan Schieppati - Vocals
Jona Weinhofen - Guitar
Ryan Wombacher - Bass/Vocals
Derek Youngsma - Drums
Marta Peterson - Keyboard
Brian “Lefty” Leppke - Guitar

Trustkill Records

http://www.myspace.com/bleedingthrough

http://www.bleedingthrough.com/

Review by CODY