It'd be hard to imagine that Bleed From Within once peddled run-of-the-mill deathcore, but from 2013’s Uprising they started their evolution towards becoming the UK’s premier modern metal outfit – and seventh album Zenith lives up to its lofty title.
Opener Violent Nature charges in foaming at the mouth before locking into an iron-clad double kick groove. Its flirtation with choral elements makes for epic bridges, segueing into the kind of pit fodder that would get tens of thousands moving at Download. From there, the album continues to affirm Bleed From Within’s supremacy. In Place Of Your Halo celebrates their native Scotland with an atmospheric bagpipe section that feels right at home with the breakdown it accompanies, while God Complex’s four-on-the-floor stomp and gang chants are made to boom out alongside huge blasts of pyro.
There are stunning vocal melodies from guitarist Steven Jones, as on the opening of A Hope In Hell, but he really comes into his own vocally on closer Edge Of Infinity. It starts off in gorgeous near-power ballad territory, before reaching a bombastic conclusion. BFW also bring in some major league guests, such as Mastodon drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor, whose croon gives Immortal Desire its haunting chorus. The tasteful use of symphonic and string elements, like on the melodeath-laced title track, help cement Zenith as the Scots’ most grandiose outing yet.
Expectations were high after the excellent double- punch of 2020’s Fracture and 2022’s Shrine, and Zenith still eclipses them. Chained To Hate offers one of their most savage callouts of ‘I will fucking hang you’, while Known By No Name’s pulsating electronic beginning and tremendous, choir-led chorus makes it truly colossal. Bigger, bolder, brasher, Zenith doesn’t just raise the bar for Bleed From Within, but dares everyone else to match its vitality, fury and lofty ambition.
Zenith is out this Friday, April 4, via Nuclear Blast
