CD Review: Bleeding Through

The Truth

(Trustkill Records)

A few years ago, Brandan Schiepetti was playing guitar for Orange County, California, hardcore outfits Eighteen Visions and Throwdown.

He eventually left both those bands to become the singer of Bleeding Through, a band less influenced by hardcore.

Bleeding Through, while just as heavy as Schiepetti’s previous bands, is much more concerned with paying homage to European metal legends like At the Gates than talking about being straight edge.

With their new album, The Truth, Bleeding Through has taken a step similar to what many European metal bands, like Soilwork and In Flames, have already taken. This change has made them about twice as melodic and accessible.

Thankfully, they manage this transition reasonably well. This album should make Bleeding Through one of the most commercially viable metal bands in the country. At the same time, however, they haven’t lost touch of what they originally were as a band. They have simply grown and expanded.

The changes the band has made are obvious right from the start. The first track, “For Love and Falling,” begins with a crushing, double time guitar riff. Within the first 45 seconds of the song, however, we are treated to some crooning courtesy of Schiepetti.

Thankfully, he can sing better than most metal singers who attempt it, and some of the melodic parts are genuinely catchy.

The only real problem with this album is one that has plagued many Swedish metal bands’ crossover albums. It is just plain cheesy at times. Schiepetti’s lyrics sometimes veer almost into the realm of parody, particularly on the song “The Pain Killer.”

The singing vocals also get to be too much sometimes, as is evident on “Dearly Demented.” Marta, the group’s surname free keyboard player, also occasionally creates a problem on the album. The keyboard blends in nicely to some songs, but it tends to be rather intrusive at times.

All in all, however, this CD is a good bet for hardcore tinged metal with some melodic moments. The Truth is near the top of the heap in its genre. Other metal bands of the world could probably learn a thing or two from Bleeding Through.