The wonderful thing about modern metal are the numerous possibilities of musical ideas. In fact, the possibilities are endless from a production perspective. As a genre or really an approach to music, modern metal music is laden with rich textures, harmonies, tight rhythm sections, massive drums, pounding basslines, and some of the heaviest guitars one would hear. Bleed From Within is one such band. The band’s newest offering ‘Fracture’ is a fine example of modern metal. The album, of course, narrows down to a few specifics in terms of style. There is quite a bit of heavy metal re-imagination and metal-core all over the place. In the end, the final product sounds insanely massive and heavy.
Arguably, ‘Fracture’ sports one of the best album openings in recent times. The album opens up with “The End Of All We Know”. Right off the back, the music is hard-hitting and quite wild. The groovy riff sections coupled with thumping rhythm sections making ways for neat break down sections and swell vocals sections make for a sweet opening! Songs like “Fall Away”, “Night Crossing”, “For All To See” sounds akin to someone being able to reimagine what made heavy metal a memorable genre into a more modern context. Melodic leads, catchy rhythmic sections, beautifully engaging chorus sections, and surprisingly understandable singing despite the harsh vocal techniques make the band’s music very memorable. These compositions are sure to stay stuck in one’s mind for a long time even after one listen. The title track stays true to the band’s groovy approach with wonderfully articulated elements in the song’s arrangements. The riff sections on this song are truly crazy. The sonic experimentation on the guitars fit really well. “Utopia” incorporates some classy guitar playing that strikes an atmosphere of familiarity and excitement. It is full of the stuff we would love to hear on a heavy metal song. Fast riffs, an ambient swept intro, lush chord progressions, tasty breakdowns, and a screeching guitar solo. The album comes to an end with “A Depth That No One Dares”. This song has everything that the album has had so far. The bass guitar and the guitars shine wonderfully on this track. The fast leads create an addictive hook that makes this song a winner. The album ends the same way it started- on an absolute high point.
Bleed From Within have been seen as one of the finest acts of modern metal for quite a while and it isn’t hard to see why. ‘Fracture’ is hands down one of the best made albums in recent times. The melodic elements, the mad breakdowns, the instrumental sections, and singing come together as one nice package. ‘Fracture’ is thoroughly enjoyable and as far as first impressions go, this record is certainly one of the best ones. As far as entertainment value goes, all the songs on the album were consistent in ensuring there isn’t a boring moment. All of this comes together with the mix, engineering, and production of the album. Everything about the sound is truly impressive. However, the whole album is characterized by an interesting motif in terms of the overall sound and the composition. For starters, the composition and the production seem to be driving each other in an interesting way so much that it becomes a factor of predictability on the album. The music has rich and deep sections in the instrumentation that by default sound quite heavy but the production and mix open up sections of the music that suddenly sound insanely massive and then closes. For a moment it sounds stunning and honestly, quite mental. But post these epic moments of sonic majesty, the sounds get a little weaker even when the riffs sound anything but weak. Personally this kind of affected the whole listening experience. But again, this is easy to miss.
All in all, Bleed From Within has done wonders with ‘Fracture’. The whole album is nicely put together and highlights the band’s very concise musical vision.