BLEED FROM WITHIN Masterfully Mixes Melody & Brutality On Their New Record Zenith

Bleed From Within's Zenith hits you harder than a middle-school bully ever could. From the first track, "Violent Nature" – which is arguably appropriate – Bleed From Within punches you in the gut, steals your lunch money, spits at your feet, before proceeding to roundhouse kick you in the skull, making you drop like a loose sack of coins. The band manages to pack every thrashing pre-chorus, chugging breakdown, and blast beat the band could conjure within the hour-long record.

Exerting a vast amount of control over melodic and chaotic instrumentation throughout the ten tracks, Bleed From Within piece together a record of anger yet find ways to build empowerment within that building resentment. Vocalist Scott Kennedy's extensive range showcases the ability to convey emotion while simultaneously showcasing his knowledge within his technique.

In its entirety, the album feels like a battle cry – from background vocals that wouldn't be amiss in a church choir to the use of bagpipes and grandeur and cinematic percussion – Bleed From Within is calling attention to what they have to say. Their words drip with contempt as Kennedy's vocals are surrounded by a vast wall of sound that crashes and burns at your feet, setting fire to your clothes, notably felt when Kennedy screams of "armageddon" and "cleansing" in the album's second track, "In Place of Your Halo" or of a "point of contention" regarding the "broken system in command." Let's not forget track "Dying Sun" and the percussion mimicking the tone in which the army plays, or movies portray, drums ahead of battle. Not only do the band feel as if they're rallying the troops – they're calling for a revolution.

But, it's far beyond the words that drive home both an empowering sentiment, and one that is equally terrifying. One that feels like both a warning and a prophecy – a warning of the position we may find ourselves in if we continue, and a prophecy because that is the situation we find ourselves in now. It's the instrumentals that keep you on edge, swinging in directions one wouldn't expect – you think a breakdown, they say another verse, you say a verse, they say an extended instrumental break. Following a strict pattern of unpredictability, Bleed From Within twists and turns throughout their tracks, painting depictions of divided societies and corrupted people in power.

Previous comparisons of Bleed From Within to Machine Head and Lamb of God don't quite capture the melodic capabilities that the band exude on Zenith. Rather, Slipknot may be more of a point of reference for songs like "God Complex" and its infectious head-bang worthy hook or for when the band show such sonic restraint on tracks like "A Hope In Hell."

Yet, Zenith is a powerful step forward into a melodic side of Bleed From Within's origins in deathcore. However, don't let the word melodic be deceptive in this context – there are plenty of raunchy riffs and sickening guitar solos – but, the way in which the band are able to find ways to blend aspects into a more harmonious sound show that Bleed From Within are far more than their genre's connotations.

Zenith is out April 4. Pre-orders are available here.