Album Review: The Bleeding – Godless Communion
Reviewed by Sam Jones
The Bleeding have become of the biggest, rising names in death metal, particularly across the UK. Formed in 2010 from London, The Bleeding have applied the ethos of old school death metal with a modern sheen and as of this stage in their career their multiple records have been received with praise galore. However The Bleeding come to a crossroads, with every member bar lead guitarist Tasos Tzimorotas being a new addition as well marking their debut album credit with the band. One could therefore deem Godless Communion, their fourth full length release, as the opening to a new chapter. With a release date of September 18th and back with a label, Redefining Darkness Records this instance, The Bleeding are poised to remind fans what they’re made of. Given the dramatic change in lineup I was highly curious how this record would feel to listen to.
With searing riffs and an energy synonymous to The Bleeding’s pedigree, the band throw you into the thick of it right out of the gate, all the more literally since an audio clip of a great drawbridge lowered precludes the record before they kick start their onslaught. I don’t know whether it’s been a while since I last listened to these guys but The Bleedjng seem to have ramped their tempo up by an even greater degree; the speed they’re able to summon is frightening, conjuring to mind that frantic bloodlust when hurled into the midst of apathetic and total carnage. But The Bleeding are particularly apt at bringing their performance under heel, steadying their slaughter, summoning these riff couplets that fall again and again like controlled detonations. Though they play at rapid-fire speeds they understand how to convey feeling and impact through such ferocious playing whilst altering the songwriting’s direction, and lethality, on a whim.
The drums, against the stellar and slicing guitar work, manages to stand out as a premier quality of the record. Now, the production manages to grant the drumming enough audibility that one can follow its patterns, even as riffs intensify and your own composure is compromised, and blast beats are given room to breathe and convey their salacious rampancy, the drums aren’t in your face. In fact the mix is delicious because the band have enabled the drums to merge with the rest of the band’s piledriving performance whilst still provided moments to stand on their own merit. It’s a very fine thing, just a little more in either direction and the drums could have been swallowed and overtaken by any other component the record purports but it sits just right. The drums are integral in providing that heavier bass into the record, alongside the bass guitar itself, as double bass drums are employed and the band’s already manic momentum trebles on the spot.
Godless Communion is perhaps one of the year’s most warranted loud experiences. By this I mean The Bleeding beg you to crank the volume as high as your device will go; you’ll get a grand kick out of Godless Communion nevertheless but given the power and unrelenting momentum the band perform with, you’ll find yourself endlessly tempted to keep raising the volume to and beyond the maximum limit. It’s when the band undergo those collective pummellings where every piece of instrumentation is firing all cylinders, and the production, the mix, has aided in meshing everything together into a most vicious recipe where only chaos and murder are the result. This isn’t a record you dissect and decipher it’s minutiae, it’s the kind you hurl yourself headfirst in to let loose all the difficulties and frustrations you’ve been tolerating as of late. You are unleashed.
In addition, not one track here exceeds five minutes in length. The Bleeding generally haven’t been concerned with longer tracks, they’ve always championed the shorter piece to dish out as much damage as possible. However Godless Communion, throughout its heinous songwriting and veritably murderous aesthetic, only takes that notion and highlights it for every single fan who has not considered it a prior thing. Only two tracks are longer than four minutes here, so the rest of the record, playing with such intensity, is akin to receiving a boxing fight with prime Mike Tyson, bitten ear and all, as The Bleeding offer absolutely zero mercy for your soul. One track ends, you might get a single breath in, and then they’re going at it all over again with no opportunity for salvation and that savagery is ever present across every track. There are no “slower” pieces herein, nothing to deter the record’s end goal of utter subjugation.
In conclusion, it’s easily The Bleeding’s most searing release to date, closing what is sure to be viewed as a new chapter on their career with a Cannibal Corpse, thoroughly apt considering The Bleeding’s monstrous presence. Wielding guitars like boulders in a landslide the band bring riffs in quick and unrepentant succession in a myriad of forms that keeps each track effortlessly engaging and dangerous. It’s that very sense of morbidity laced into their sound that will keep you coming back for Godless Communion, that maddening high the deranged and insane no doubt experience daily when entertaining thoughts of pristine killing. Godless Communion is an explosive experience, so much so, you’ll still be expecting another blast even come its final conclusive heatwaves.
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