Review: Bleeding Through - Declaration
Let me start by saying that Bleeding Through is not a catchy band. They don't use much if any rhyming and they do not try to get the listener's attention using repetitious refrains.
The band's strength lies in their ability to combine the brutal with the beautiful. Their music uses a base of fast-paced Metalcore but is infused with Gothic elements via keyboardist Marta Peterson and the occasional albeit very well placed melodic interjection. As always with my favorite bands, the vocals and lyrics are especially well crafted. Lead vocalist Brandan Schieppati writes lyrics that are
as elegant as they are malicious, which fits perfectly with the overall theme.
Review: Bleeding Through - Declaration
Ultimately, I would never label Bleeding Through as a casual, easy listening, or jamming band-- that is to say, you wouldn't really want them playing in the background while you were engaged in another activity.
The music is meant to be payed attention to and listened to actively, not passively.
This is not a bad thing; in my opinion, active listening is the best practice if you are ever to truly appreciate any music.
Bleeding Through's latest album,
Declaration, is by far their hardest release to date. Like,
hard.
Really hard. Even for
my tastes. Indeed, the band seems to have upped the brutality tenfold here, but they have not left out or forgotten melodic parts entirely-- as always, the softer parts add an immense depth to the tracks in which they appear on. Despite this, the tracks that are hard through-and-through stay strong and do not feel lacking of a softer element.
I cannot say enough good things about this album,
Declaration truly is amazing and fantastic in so many ways.
If you aren't someone who typically listens to harder music, then it may be hard for you to see passed the surface... All I can tell you is that what lies beneath is one of the most
beautifully real displays of true human love, loss, and rage that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing....and so, I leave you with the music.
Personal favorites from the album are:
- Germany (Track 4)
- There was a Flood (Track 5)
- Sister Charlatan (Track 12)
All three of these songs are lyrically superb.
Germany uses metaphorical overlay of the country itself and it's struggle/division due to the Berlin wall to describe Brandon's own emotions.
There was a Flood and
Sister Charlatan each begin with a symphonic introduction, bursting into fast paced sections and eventually culminating with beautiful vocal sections.
If you prefer to try something more melodic, then Tracks 5 and 12 are for you, where as Track 4 is the more brutal of the three of them.
Germany (Track 4) When the first few seconds of the intro to this track play and the song explodes in, I'm usually full out thrashing all over the place with happiness
There was a wall constructed inside of my ripping through my heart
And brick by brick I'll slave to tear it all down
Say goodbye to loneliness the past is finally dead
There is no allegiance the past is finally dead
I felt so trapped a stranger frozen to these streets
With broken bones wounds I swore would never heal
I always hoped for something true but
My emotions were always conflicted, so conflicted
Next stop the Berlin Bridge
I once gave my heart for black hair pale skin and broken English
My life was always so confined
Like being chained against the flow of the gutter
I had no worth only a hunger for excess to fill the gaps
There was no depth to this abyss
So conflicted
From this day forward
I'll wear my heart on my sleeve
It's ten below outside but it's pale in comparison
To how frozen my judgment used to be
There is no regret the past is finally dead
The past is finally dead
I have no regrets
None
There was a Flood (Track 5)Beautiful and Brutal all at once. OVERCOME! AND OVER THROW! /bow
Say goodnight young dagger have the years been kind to you?
Or have they left you vacant with so much left to prove?
It should be none of your concern but the pain has been lifted away
Fatally eternally
OVERCOME! and OVERTHROW!
The blood that swelled your tainted lips now drips to the floor
So dry your eyes before you cry another river
And breath-by-breath I'll rise to keep your flood away from me
I'll dam your flood away from me
Only out of spite I must
I will throw you away
Always I'll fight off your grip on my existence
I won't feel sorry for this spit in the eye
Sending seizures through your frozen veins
There is no giving into you
It took a lifetime to forget your name
I swallowed everything you said
Exhale the poison the dwells within your soul
Stand up for myself
Drown by yourself
Sister Charlatan (Track 12)Truly amazing. Pristine, even.
I bear witness to an ugly reality
I won't blink for the pure satisfaction
As beauty fights with perfection
Tape my eyes open for the oncoming storm
Now I can sense your stale fear in the air
As humanity starved for your flesh
Your skin starts to rust beginning to crack
No one cares anymore
Your false pretense is startling to fade and burn
With your self-righteous
Oh how hard the pitiful will fall
Sister
Sister Charlatan
No one cares anymore
I no longer admire you
There is no one left to impress
I no longer admire you
The way you burned them all alive
The fire in your eyes
But I'll always remember how fast the beautiful will fall
Walls come crashing down
It was all just a lie
You were so good at leaving your mark
And running away
Forge a smile with your second face
