Band – Bleed From Within
Album – Fracture
Country of Origin – Scotland
Genre – Metalcore
Release Date – May 29, 2020
Label – Century Media
Author – Bret Casey
It’s no news to anyone that metalcore’s glory days are well behind them. Due to the rise of djent and deathcore, many of the greatest metalcore bands have changed their sounds to fit a wider audience. On the one hand, we have fewer true metalcore bands available to listen to, on the other hand, newer and more obscure metalcore bands have less competition.
So let’s give Bleed From Within’s album Fracture a listen and see if they are worthy of sitting on the empty metalcore throne.
Bleed From Within formed in Scotland in 2005. Their first three albums were primarily death metal with metalcore influence. The music was solid and critically acclaimed, so much so that they won the Metal Hammer Golden God “Best New Artist” award in 2013.
After a five year break between albums and a lineup change, Bleed From Within released Era in 2018, changing up their sound from death metal with metalcore influence to metalcore with death metal influence. It might not seem like much of a change but trust me, it’s night and day here.
Death metalcore, but it’s not deathcore. Look out! Subgenre Nazis incoming! Guard your comment section.
Bleed From Within are in top form on this album. Years of experience are clearly paying off on this record.
Bleed From Within like to subvert expectations at every turn when it comes to breakdowns. Sometimes it will be a deathcore or metalcore breakdown, others a death metal or thrash breakdown, and every once in a while going into a melodic section, instead of a breakdown. While some might find this confusing when getting pumped for the “big drop” it does give variety to the album and makes every song seem that much fresher than the last. Predictable can become boring, after all.
Likewise, the songs themselves can vary wildly. The End Of All We Know is very much a metalcore song, while Pathfinder borders on straight-up death metal. And that’s just the first two songs! Every riff is filled with infectious grooves that just hit the spot for me.
Variety is the spice of life and Bleed From Within manages to bring plenty of variety, while still staying in the realm of their signature death metalcore.
Scott Kennedy’s vocals are often compared to Winston McCall of Parkway Drive, and I can hear the similarity. I love how well he can enunciate while still being brutal, I think he may even enunciate better than Winston.
Craig Gowens is on point with his guitar solos, and I think we can assume he’s the reason the last two albums have had so much groove infused. He switched from bass to lead guitar back in 2009 and we all know how bassists love a good groove.
Also, after listening to Bleed From Within’s full discography, I’m adding Ali Richardson to my list of underrated drummers. From metalcore to death metal blast beats and back, just mmmm perfection.
Steven Jones on rhythm guitar brings some real earworm riffs that’ll get lodged in your eardrums.
And Davy Proven bringing in some sick bass grooves that just lay on thick groves that glue everything together.
It’s hard for me to find fault with Fracture other than that it might not be [insert subgenre] enough for some, but that’s not how I roll. The lyrics can be a bit stereotypical metalcore sometimes, but we don’t listen to metal to hear about flowers, do we? Overall, this album gets a seal of approval from me.
For fans of As I Lay Dying, Parkway Drive, Dyscarnate, and Soreption.
Biography: Bret Casey is a music enthusiast from Maine USA with ties to the death metal and punk communities. When he isn’t reviewing music he’s spending time with his wife and kids or gaming with his friends and family.
