Bleeding Through

The pain, frustration, and despair of the preyed upon and forgotten have been fashioned into a sharpened point on Bleeding Through's landmark new album, "The Truth." Skeletons come forth from the closet, secrets are revealed, and broken promises arise from dirtied earth. Faster yet more melodic, heavier yet more accomplished, more precise while even further off the deep-end into tragedy and loneliness, "The Truth" is a trend-proof middle finger toward the glut of over-saturation that threatens to destroy a scene this band helped to build. Brandan Schieppati breaks open the Pandora's box of the competitive nature of growing up in Orange County, California -- where the "beautiful people" squabble for their piece of the pie -- by focusing years of rage from trying to "fit in" into a voice that speaks for the masses. Songs like "Kill To Believe" and "Hollywood Prison" are bitter anthems for the broken-hearted, painting a picture of solidarity through shared struggle and strife. "Give up your heartache/ Build your weapon to destroy them all," Schieppati commands in "Dearly Demented (alongside haunting guest vocals from Tiger Army's Nick 13). It's a rally, a message, a point of ... more...