I have known this band since their 2003 This Is Love, This Is Murderous full-length album and I can say that I really liked some songs in there. Since then I never spent any time searching for what this band does, but Nuclear Blast decided to make me come across BLEEDING THROUGH again. So, here I am with the band's latest album.

The US metallers BLEEDING THROUGH belong to this new breed of whatevercore bands that are constantly touring earning more and more fans as time goes by (don't ask me why their fans are not over 23-24 years old). They have managed to sell over 300.000 copies worldwide and have shared the stage with bands like SLAYER, AS I LAY DYING, CRADLE OF FILTH and many more.

So, here it is. The band's fifth full-length album, entitled Declaration. To tell you the truth I am not really sure what these guys want to declare, but it is probably the end of quality Metal music. Yeah, they are not bad at what they do, but this whole Metalcore movement is not exactly my cup of tea. They have some similarities with bands like CALIBAN and STILL REMAINS, but the good thing about them is that they have managed to create a more diverse sound adding some Black and Death Metal elements. The - incredibly hot - female keyboardist of BLEEDING THROUGH is definitely doing a great job creating a haunting and creepy atmosphere at some parts, but the whole pseudo Black Metal thingie is disturbed by an out of the blue beatdown Hardcore part and I just don't see the link between them.

Not that it is bad to mix different elements, but at least try to make them sound as one and not as scattered remains of your influences. Thumbs down for the intro that finishes with the Spartans, tonight we dine in hell phrase from the 300 movie. I really can't see the connection between Leonidas and the Spartans and the band's totally emo lyrics.