Right now, British metal is the healthiest it’s been since the 1980s, and Bleed From Within are one of the bands leading that revival. Despite forming as far back as 2005, it was during the pandemic that the groove/melodeath firebrands truly roof off, amassing millions of streams with their all-adrenaline anthem The End Of All We Know.
Since then, the Glaswegians have become international ambassadors for their native scene, playing every metal festival worth playing and touring with such titans as Slipknot and Trivium. To celebrate their still-growing success – and the release of their brand-new album, Zenith – Hammer has arranged their seven-album back-catalogue from worst to best.
7. Humanity (2009)
Before they had such bangers as Into Nothing and Levitate to their name, Bleed From Within were a DIY deathcore bunch. Debut album Humanity was released via indie label Rising Records and sounded as raw as uncooked meat. The plethora of ’core cliches was almost overwhelming, with big chugs and Cannibal Corpse-ish tremolo picking flying out thick and fast. At the same time, though, the odd melodic lead guitar line hinted at the majesty that would later define the band’s much more characterful material.
6. Empire (2010)
Despite coming out just 10 months after Humanity, Empire showed Bleed From Within making some major leaps. From the off, there was much more emphasis on the groove metal and melodeath aspects that were waiting in the wings during their debut. This Is Our Legacy opened the album with some clearly At The Gates-indebted riffing, not to mention some heavier and more characterful drumming. This follow-up was still saddled by some far-from-glorious production, however, so you can understand why both this and Humanity have been pulled from streaming services.
5. Uprising (2013)
Now comes the good stuff. In the lead-up to album three, Bleed From Within skyrocketed from Rising to major label Century Media, and the recording quality on Uprising soared in turn. The band’s drive to rule the UK metal scene smashed through during these 13 songs, with their fury both returning and getting channelled into such powerhouse choruses as the title track’s. A tour with Megadeth and the complimentary yet cursed tag of “the British Lamb Of God” followed, with all eyes on the firebrands’ next move.
4. Era (2018)
Fucked over by a behind-the-scenes deal gone wrong, Bleed From Within laid low for three years after Uprising’s tour, during which time all their momentum got squandered. Era functioned as a re-debut of sorts, introducing Steven Jones as the Scotsmen’s new guitarist and, for the first time ever, their melodic backing vocalist. Musically, the band wisely reiterated what made them cult beloveds half a decade prior. Highlights like Alive and Afterlife placed even more focus on the heaviness, shoutalong hooks and athletic guitars that previously positioned these up-and-comers as the next big thing.
3. Shrine (2022)
After the breakthrough that was 2020’s Fracture, Bleed From Within couldn’t refine their groove/melodeath fusion any further. So, for the first time since 2010, they turned a corner. Shrine was every bit as episodic and hit-laden as what came before, but it also ventured into near-Septicflesh levels of symphonic. Levitate and I Am Damnation thrust Steven Jones’ singing even further to the forefront as well. The collective result didn’t quite carry the same clarity of vision as Fracture, but at the same time you were never reaching for the skip button, either.
2. Fracture (2020)
Fracture was cathartic music at a time when the world desperately needed it. Released in May 2020, its focussed fury and motivational lyrics were an outlet for every metalhead stuck at home, urging them to mosh around the kitchen counter. Then, once restrictions lifted and Bleed From Within graced stages again, such standouts as The End Of All We Know and Into Nothing proved themselves once again, getting crowds into a frenzy from front to back. With deep cuts like Fall Away being equally as energetic, this was a bulletproof collection of bangers.
1. Zenith (2025)
Calling your own album Zenith requires testicles the size of wrecking balls, but Bleed From Within complemented that confidence with one of the most invigorating albums of this decade so far. From the moment Violent Nature kick-starts the album in a thrashing armada of screams, the band’s seventh outing is a gut-punching triumph, filtering the more experimental ideas of Shrine into a package that finds new, original ways to excite.
The proof comes from the likes of finale Edge Of Infinity, which may be a largely acoustic piece, but its rise to hulking metal via Steven Jones’ heroic vocals feels destined to inspire mass singalongs. Elsewhere, single In Place Of Your Halo makes the bagpipes badass, using them to underline a devastating breakdown, and Immortal Desire hires Mastodon drummer/crooner Brann Dailor for a fist-pumping chorus.
Everything else, from the Crazy Train-esque riffing of God Complex to Known By No Name’s electronic heartbeat, is exhilaration manifest, and the band are already set to reach new heights in its aftermath, headlining the largest venues of their career so far. It may be premature to mark this down as Bleed’s best, but the sheer quality that explodes from every second leaves no other option.
