Being a near-40 year old who grew up in the Northeast, it probably comes as little surprise to you that the American Metalcore and New Wave of American Heavy Metal movements of the early ’00s played a pretty pivotal role in my music fandom. While I certainly cut my teeth on the usual suspects of Metallica, Pantera and Slayer (and certainly dabbled with my share of Nu Metal in the mid-to-late 90s), it was the rise of bands like Shadows Fall, God Forbid, Killswitch Engage and Unearth where I really started to feel as though I was getting in on the ground floor of something that was for me, especially given the simple fact that so much of that scene was so firmly planted right there in my neck of the woods.

Maybe it was just dumb geographic bias, or maybe it was an aesthetic thing? I dunno, but the West Coast-based acts that came out of that movement at the time just didn’t quite hold the same appeal to me. I’m not gonna go so far to say as I didn’t enjoy the As I Lay Dyings and Bleeding Throughs, or even somewhat the Atreyus and Eighteen Visions’ of the scene, but save for a few exceptions (the criminally underrated Himsa) they just never carried the same weight for me as a fan. And to be clear, there was definitely a different vibe that came from west coast metal and metalcore at the time – a certain flair for the dramatic and more Emo-leaning tendencies that, at the time, just didn’t hold as much appeal to me (not that New Jersey and Long Island didn’t provide plenty bands of similar ilk but, I dunno, I was a dumbass teenager. Don’t ask me to explain myself).

But as I’ve grown older and less bitchy, I’m not gonna lie – classic bangers like BT‘s “On Wings of Lead” and “Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire” have aged like a fine cheddar (the re-recordings they released a couple years ago sound fucking great, by the way). And while I admit up front that my familiarity with the band’s work following 2003’s breakthrough This is Love, This is Murderous is REAL minimal, some more recent output like 2022’s Rage EP and a track called “War Time” first released in 2023 both showcased a band that maybe still had something left in the tank to give. Even still, I never would have suspected that a new album from Bleeding Through in 2025 was gonna do much of anything to tickle my pickle in any meaningful way.

WRONG. Holy shit wrong. Holy shit is this album vicious.

The throwback vibes hit with full force right out the gate on “Gallows” which, as it absolutely should, starts with a hard-as-fuck sample of Saruman from The Two Towers claiming “… we have only to remove those who oppose us” which truly just rockets me straight back to 2002 and sets the table perfectly for what follows – in this case a surprisingly ferocious attack of shredding riffs and machinegun drumming that pummel the senses (at one point there’s even a friggin’ GNARLY blast section that absolutely obliterates). This invigorated, full-throttle blitzkrieg however, is beautifully and expectedly balanced with a big, melodic chorus that’s easy to sing along with and invites the kind of mass appeal Bleeding Through and bands of that generation are known for. The band’s knack for being being both catchy and catastrophic is still operating at full capacity, proven fully when they launch into the first of this album’s cache of truly atomic breakdowns. Of course, why settle for one when you could have three, right? And because you’re Bleeding Through, why not make sure each is layered with Marta Demmel’s signature creepy, organ-heavy keys that make them sound straight out of the depths of Mordor itself? They add a foreboding, evil presence that simply can’t be replicated by just and other metalcore act, and it’s a true joy to hear them again.

From there, Bleeding Through make no bones about who they are and what they’re about – with “Our Brand is Chaos” seemingly looking to make that point ABUNDANTLY clear. The anthemic opening chant of “Fuck with us and find out” pretty much says it all, and while I’m sure some will mock or cringe at the simplicity of the messaging, I for one feel an absolute sincerity and confidence that can only come from a band who has been toiling at their craft and defying the odds for now nearly 25 years. To that point, the band unleashes yet more punishing, pounding breakdowns and yet another round of absolutely filthy blasting that show a band willing to evolve and take some of those newer deathcore elements to solidify a sound that sounds in equal parts classic and utterly modern. New lead guitarist Brandon Richter (actually known more for former drumming stints with Motionless in White and Dawn of Ashes) makes an immediate impact as well, adding some genuinely impressive leads and solos that take Bleeding Through‘s work to a whole new level.

Nine is actually the first full release with both Richter and John Arnold on guitars and I gotta say, the fresh blood is paying off in spades, and an immense amount of credit certainly has to go to vocalist Brandon Schieppati, who is proving the benefit of taking care of one’s self for the benefit of the long haul. The dude sounds as ferocious as ever, and when paired with the dummy-good riffs of this guitar duo on tracks like “Hail Destruction” and “I Am Resistance,” the end result is, frankly, pretty stunning. The latter of those two tracks also showcases one of my other favorite elements of the record; the collaborations – in this case a guest vocal appearance from Comeback Kid‘s Andrew Neufeld which fucking smokes with an unrelenting energy that almost even makes you think of the likes of Blackguard or Crimson Shadows, especially with the blasting/shredding violins section that give this track a nearly folk metal flair, and even more so when another of Richter’s really great solos enters the mix. It’s a really unique track in the band’s repertoire than honestly just sounds fantastic. Ditto to the re-recorded “War Time” which packs just as furious a punch, and also features Shadows Fall‘s Brian Fair on guest vocals that makes it feel like even more of an occasion. We even get a fuckin sweet guest guitar spot on “Lost in Isolation” from God Forbid guitarist Doc Coyle (which, to keep score, Comeback Kid, Shadows Fall and God Forbid make up a list of my favorite acts not just of that time period of heavy music, but just in general. It’s like Bleeding Through did all of this specifically for me).

What Nine feels like to me, at the end of the day, is both a celebration of an era of music that I hold near and dear to my heart, but also a steadfast and resolute promise to keep carrying the torch into and through an altogether new era, and with the likes of Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage releasing new music, it’s more than a little exciting for me to hear some of the older guard come back in swinging with such a vengeance (too bad Tim Lambesis had to go and fuck up As I Lay Dying for everyone). This album is absolutely no joke (despite it’s somewhat unfortunate album art), and whether or not you’re an early 2000’s metalcore kid at heart like I am, I cannot recommend enough you give this a shot, because there’s a wide net of really fucking good stuff here for a lot of people to enjoy. Excuse me while I now go back and see what else from this band I’ve been sleeping on for the last 20 years.

 

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