INTRODUCING: Bleach
Debatably one of the more saturated genres to take the populous’ attention, becoming a stand out band in the hardcore scene these days is no easy feat. It takes true focus and determination from the off, both in attitude and in sound to really makes waves. With those attributes in mind, Mancunian outfit BLEACH are an emerging force to be reckoned with. Here, we caught up with drummer Alex Mac about the emergence of one of the UK’s most up and coming new band.
So where exactly did the newest faces in hardcore start out? “Most of us met during our first year at university around four years ago, and we’ve been in bands together before, so for myself, Antony [Costello, guitar] and Jack [Day, guitar] we’ve just been basically continuing different projects over the years with different people involved,” Alex explains. “The BLEACH lineup however just came around through friends that we knew, after our most recent band had some issues we decided to start fresh.” Their emergence was only in February this year, and with a couple of single releases in that time, the excitement and interest can’t be down to hype culture. There’s a real guttural, feral sound in BLEACH’s music that really unleashes a need to embrace your more destructive side. Both Anguish and Terminal demonstrated the absolute force of nature that BLEACH could be.
None of the washy, tempered inflections here, you’ll have to brace yourselves for a real kick in the face when picking up their debut release Discontent. The first few singles are anything to go by, where the song Anguish gained more than 25,000 plays since it’s release, the new EP encompasses their decimating, unyielding sound. “When writing music, we try to consider how it’s going to be translated to the live show, which plays a big part in certain decisions relating to the content and the structure of songs” Alex tells us. “At the same time, we just write what we enjoy and that tends to not include any ‘mellow moments’ or breaks in the songs energy. We do have some sections in songs like Anguish and Terminal when we bring the energy levels down for a few bars, but at those points we attempt to keep some sort of groove going throughout, and then intentionally kick back in even heavier.”
The band have worked hard throughout 2018, and the upshot in their popularity has to be down to their savage live performances. If you look online, there’s a lack of content and expose there, it’s pure grassroots rise to what makes the band a real head turner. As a northern band, they have made their mark in cities like Manchester and Leeds, but the guys note that it’s the all-round support of local scenes that’s pulled them up and supported them. “Definitely, and not even just in Manchester where we’re based but all over the UK. We’ve all been in bands before and this project has by far been the most successful in the shortest amount of time, we launched almost 10 months ago and in that time we’ve released two singles and an EP, toured the UK and played several shows with bands like BLOOD YOUTH, BARRIER, LOTUS EATER, CREATE TO INSPIRE and have a lot more booked up. We wouldn’t be able to play shows like this if it wasn’t for the support we’re receiving from the heavy music scene, and obviously we’re super grateful.”
The band have also touring with the likes of GALLERIES, and in the months they have been present in the scene, the band have proven themselves relentless in their passion for their music. They’re not shy about the gratitude they have for the praise their work has attained. “[We’re] overwhelmed,” Alex notes simply. “We’ve been getting message after message from both fans and industry praising the EP, as well as great reviews from platforms like yourselves at Distorted Sound. For us it’s not just about the views on YouTube and the Streams on Spotify because they don’t mean too much, but when people take the time to send you an email about how much they’re enjoying the very short 13 minutes of music that we have and that they’re skint but they’ll be buying merch this payday is just something else. The EP has only been out for a couple of weeks now and we’ve already booked some great shows off the back of it, and are currently discussing some exciting opportunities in terms of tours for next year. We’ll be following up Discontent with a brand-new single shortly.”
With no signs of stopping, we wanted to get it from the horse’s mouth, just what is it that draws people to the intensity of BLEACH’s shows? “Overall, I would just say the energy that we put in to our live show. None of us stand still for more than a few seconds, and our vocalist T [Danny Taylor] is usually off stage with the audience. We only have a very short set at the moment, which I think actually works in our favour. It’s just 15 minutes of heavy music with no letting up.”
Discontent is out now via self-release.
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