ALBUM REVIEW: Love Will Kill All – Bleeding Through

When BLEEDING THROUGH called it a day in 2014 the disappointment and upset was palpable. The metalcore outfit from California had been impressing across the globe with their combination of breakdowns and symphonic elements and it left a hole in the genre that was never quite filled…until now. Announcing their official return two months ago with the same lineup as their one off shows in 2016, Love Will Kill All is their seventh full album and their official comeback, out today via new label SharpTone Records.

Comeback records are always welcomed with a hint of trepidation; even when a band has only been away for a few years like BLEEDING THROUGH, there’s always the concern that the time spent inactive can have an effect on the overall style, direction and tone of an outfit. It is with a sigh of relief, therefore, that BLEEDING THROUGH have just picked up where they left off and unleashed all of that recharged energy into Love Will Kill All in one fell swoop. This is what metalcore was meant to be – huge choruses, head-banging brutality and delivered at a pace so unrelenting it feels like the senses are being totalled by a baseball bat. With a nail sticking in it. The big time feel of tracks like Fade Into the Ash and No Friends could rival TRIVIUM’s most impressive output, the latter unashamedly opening with a cry of ‘BT 2018’, as if to hammer home the point further that the band are sounding better than ever.

Dead Eyes, with its eerie keyboards and the blast beats in Cold World should be a lesson to DIMMU BORGIR in how to properly execute extreme metal in a year as phenomenal as this for new music whilst Remains draws similarities to the early work of BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and Brian Leppke’s industrial-tinged guitars in Slave bear passing resemblances to FEAR FACTORY in their pomp. As for Life, the closing track on this bludgeoning album, there’s no sign of a let up in the band’s ambitions to produce an album with the punch of a hurtling freight train, the haunting backing vocals present adding an extra layer to savour and enjoy.

To think that the year isn’t even at its halfway point given the smorgasbord of incredible releases is mindboggling and BLEEDING THROUGH are another ingredient in the melting pot; Love Will Kill All is a wonderful return to form and should be applauded from all corners. Welcom back guys, you have been sorely missed.

Rating: 9/10

Love Will Kill All is out now via SharpTone Records.

Like BLEEDING THROUGH on Facebook.