Bleeding Through “The Great Fire” review
Bleeding Through
Brandon Schieppati: Vocals
Brian Leppke: Guitar
Dave Nassie: Guitar
Ryan Wombacher: Bass/Vocals
Derek Youngsma: Drums
Marta: Keyboard
review by Chris Mullen
(please direct all shit talking, harassment and nudes to his Facebook)
After more than a decade of touring and recording, Orange County hardcore/metalcore veterans Bleeding Through have proven time and time again that they are nothing short of a force to be reckoned with. And with their latest release, The Great Fire, it is abundantly clear that they have no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
I was first turned on to Bleeding Through about ten years ago shortly after the release of Portrait of the Goddess, the band’s second release and first full-length, when a friend of mine gave me a copy and insisted that I would like it. I was definitely a little apprehensive. I had met vocalist Brandon Schieppati several years earlier during his time as guitarist for Throwdown and Eighteen Visions, and I remembered him saying that he was a huge fan of Integrity. When I heard that he would be holding down vocal duties on the new project I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I figured it would be, at the very least, worth a listen. Some part of me figured that it would sound like a cross between Integrity, Throwdown and Eighteen Visions, all three of whom I liked, but was never a huge fan of. Needless to say, I couldn’t have been further from the the truth. One song was all it took. Portrait of the Goddess didn’t leave my disc changer for about three months.
Fast forward to 2012. Despite several lineup changes, including a stint with I Killed the Prom Queen guitarist Jona Weinhofen, Bleeding Through haven’t changed their style or become watered down to appeal to a more mainstream audience. If anything, their music has become heavier, harder, and MORE brutal. Drummer Derek Youngsma’s blast beats and thundering double bass have never sounded cleaner, or faster. At times, his drumming seems almost inhuman. Keyboardress Marta has never been more present, and at times her keys sound more like a full orchestra than a single woman. Her arrangements eclipse guitarists Dave Nassie (of Fat Wreck’s No Use for a Name) and Brian Leppke’s riffs in ways that are heavy, yet melodic. Beautiful, yet haunting. Bassist Ryan Wombacher sings a lot of the clean, non-screaming parts, and though Schieppati covers the screaming parts, it is abundantly clear that he is capable of more than just the lion roar. There are numerous harmonies between him and Wombacher that prove yet again that screaming ISN’T everything. Lyrically, it is apparent that Brandon Schieppati has taken a different approach to writing on the more recent albums, a trend which is continued on The Great Fire.
Track List:
The March
Faith in Fire
Goodbye to Death
Final Hours
Starving Vultures
Everything You Love is Gone
Walking Dead
The Devil and Self-Doubt
Step Back in Line
Trail of Seclusion
Deaf Ears
One by One
Entrenched
Back to Life
The March: This appropriately titled instrumental intro does indeed invoke images of Satan’s army of knights, clad in black armor, marching into battle. Or maybe it’s just me. Either way, it’s a great way to start the album, and the PERFECT build up to the next track.
Faith in Fire: This one is one of my favorites. A short and FAST fusion of punk beats, blast beats, gang vocals, and black metal guitar riffs. Marta’s keys give the song an almost horror movie sounding undertone. Imagine what Slayer would sound like if they smoked an eight-ball of crystal meth and recorded a song over the theme music from Nightmare on Elm Street and you might be in the same ballpark.
Goodbye to Death: This is one of the few, if not the only song on the album that I’m not a huge fan of. Don’t get me wrong, musically speaking it’s technical as hell, but to me it isn’t anything we haven’t heard before. I definitely don’t hate it, but if it pops up in a playlist I’m probably going to skip it.
Final Hours: If Goodbye to Death isn’t the best song on the album, Final Hours makes up for it, and then some. This one is fast, technical, and at the same time, surprisingly melodic. The chorus incorporates almost violin-sounding keys with vocal melodies that showcase Brandon Schieppati’s talent as a singer, and not just a guy who can scream. For lack of a better term, Final Hours is more of a sonic journey than just another song.
Starving Vultures: As much as I hate to make this comparison, the organ sound of the keyboard in the intro reminds me of In Sorte Diaboli era Dimmu Borgir. That’s a good thing. One of the best things about this song is the fact that even though it’s more mid-tempo, at least, mid-tempo for Bleeding Through, it is every bit as heavy as the faster blast beat ridden tracks. Marta’s keys in the pre-chorus are a great example as to why keyboard players should get more credit than they usually do.
Everything You Love is Gone: Definitely one of the heavier songs on the album. Youngsma’s blast beats frequently make me wish I had learned to play drums. The gang vocals in the chorus are an indication of the band’s punk rock and hardcore influences. My one and only grievance with this track is the fact that Marta’s keys are almost completely absent. I would have liked to hear her a bit more, but the song is still great nonetheless.
Walking Dead: The keyboard and the harmonized guitars in the intro immediately give the song an eerie, haunting feel. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m a horror movie nerd, but it really does invoke images of a horde of zombies creeping through the streets and devouring everything in their path. The rest of the song is fast and heavy, while still remaining melodic.The keys in the outro sound more like a string arrangement than a keyboard Definitely one of the best songs on the album.
The Devil and Self-Doubt: Undoubtedly, my favorite song on the album. The keys in the intro incorporate violins, cellos, and other orchestral string arrangements. Marta’s presence on this one is undeniable. Her parts in the chorus eclipse Schieppati’s melodic vocals in a way that adds a whole new dimension to what I can only describe as a metal orchestra. If Beethoven were to compose a hardcore song, this is what it would sound like. Priceless.
Step Back in Line: This one is a throwback. It reminds me of the band’s earlier material, circa This is Love, This is Murderous. It’s fast, heavy, brutal and straight to the point. Definitely one for hardcore fans. Blast beats and testosterone galore!
Trail of Seclusion: Along the same lines as The Devil and Self-Doubt, this is definitely one of my favorites. Heavy as fuck while remaining melodic. To me, that is the mark of a great song; keeping it brutal without sacrificing anything in the way of melody. Ryan Wombacher’s vocals and harmonies in the chorus are what take the song from good to AWESOME. Perhaps my favorite lyric on the whole album: “Let’s hear it for the less fortunate.”
Deaf Ears: It’s uncanny how much this track reminds me of Demanufacture era Fear Factory. There’s an almost techno beat in the intro which sets the the tone for the rest of the song. Prepare for lots of punk beats and double bass synchronized with thundering guitar and bass as well as ambient keyboard sounds. At times the keyboard sound morphs into an electric violin sound. Truly a great track.
One by One: From the opening line, “Enough is enough, one by one you have failed each other,” it is clear that this is one of the most brutal songs on the album. Awesome! This song would make a great soundtrack for a soccer riot. Imagine you’re watching the scene in Braveheart where the first battle takes place, and the armies are charging across the field toward each other, complete with swords and axes held high. Now imagine that every last square inch of the field was covered with land mines. That’s what comes to mind when I listen to this one. “ONE BY OOONNNEEE!!!”
Entrenched: Possibly the most misleading intro on the album. It starts off peaceful enough, and then kicks you square in the face with a sonic steel-toe. From start to finish it’s a fucking awesome track! Marta’s keys combined with Nassie and Leppke’s guitars create some of the most haunting melodies on the album. The outro follows the intro: eerie, and darker than Vader’s helmet.
Back to Life: Even though the intro sounds very death metal influenced, this is another mid-tempo track with lots of cool vocal harmonies between Wombacher and Schieppati. There’s also some really dark, clean guitar parts which when combined with the keyboard produce some really cool sounds. The outro of the song, which is also the outro of the album, is AT LEAST. A three-part vocal harmony that you would expect to hear from a choir rather than a metal band. I would definitely be curios to see if they were able to pull off that part live.
When all is said and done, The Great Fire is quite possibly the hardest, heaviest, darkest, most brutal, yet most mature and most evolved album of Bleeding Through’s career. If Portrait of the Goddess didn’t leave my disc changer for at least three months, this one will be there for at least a year. Two VERY enthusiastic thumbs WAY UP!
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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