Bleeding Through has arrived to stake their claim as heir to the legacy of the heavy metal forefathers of yore. Think we're kidding? Think this is just a bunch of hardcore kids playing at the metal game? Well, there's a few believers you should talk to, then. You'll have to argue with the guys in The Haunted, for starters. And you'll be challenging the throngs of sweat-soaked and satisfied metal-bred legions who've see Bleeding Through perform live. Just take one listen to the tightly wound, convincingly proficient, brutally pummeling and absolutely devastating sound of "This Is Love, This Is Murderous" and there'll be no need for further convincing.

In the 1980's, a handful of teenagers in California cobbled together the most potent parts of punk, hard rock and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and, injecting it with a fierce dose of Venom and Motorhead, gave birth to thrash metal. And regardless of which directions its fierce progeny wandered off to geographically or musically' death metal, black metal or the hypnotic fusion of hardcore punk and ' crossover' histrionics ' a fist-pumping urgency remained a consistent thread.

Today that power continues to pump life into a few musical wrecking crews that hold the torch aloft for true blooded, life-affirming metal: bands like Himsa, Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage, or even Soilwork and In Flames. Groups who are the sum total of their influences, yet a fresh breath of life carrying a new identity altogether. With the twin-guitar depth of Scott Danough and Brian Leppke, the brutal and dynamic dance floor drive of bassist Ryan Wombacher and drummer Derek Youngsma, the Nordic-enhanced and lush keyboard atmospherics of Marta and the throat defying roar of former Throwdown/ Eighteen Visions guitarist Brandan Schieppati, Bleeding Through are redefining the parameters of heavy music in yet another invigorating new strain.

In the roughly four years since their inception, the Orange County outfit's musically muscular intimidation, clearly focused purpose and irrepressible drive has allowed Bleeding Through to savagely claw their way up from the hardcore underground and quickly become a force to be reckoned with across several genres. Imagine the heaviness of Cannibal Corpse, the fierce yet melodic sensibilities of At the Gates and the undeniable credibility of Hatebreed, and you may begin to formulate some idea of what this band can do. There's a reason why the guys in Lamb of God know Bleeding Through's name and alternately, on the other end of the spectrum, Davey Havok (singer of AFI) wears their T-shirt on MTV and his band takes them on tour.
Bleeding Through's crossover appeal should come as no surprise as they're a group nourished on metal since their youth yet trained by punk's personal politics to cast away the genre's limiting pretensions. To be blunt, they're not above getting in a van. They don't expect to get rich. But they also aren't pushing any agenda. Their only mission is to devastate the stage.

"This Is Love, This Is Murderous" threatens to be the band's defining work. A groundswell of supporters in their Southern California homebase have devotedly chanted along with the band's tales of betrayal, resistance, absolution, redemption and honor since the release of the band's already landmark' "Portrait of the Goddess'" and the primitive bellow of 2001's "Dust to Ashes" before that. And now, "This Is Love, This Is Murderous" sees them fully realizing their potential, with the recording process finally being able to catch up to and capture the quintet's capabilities. And on the strength of this masterpiece, you'll soon see Bleeding Through's dark, Samhain like image, uplifting and engaging stage persona and blackened and New-Wave-of-Swedish-Heavy-Metal-charged devastation attack your town.

Get ready to be a believer yourself.
- Ryan Downey