BLEED AGAIN have been on my radar for a little while now and over the years, they have gone from strength to strength. They are due to unleash their upcoming record Resurgence that will drag you along for a ride whether you are ready for it or not.
It wastes no time kicking the doors down and opening with Prevail. This dominant opening sets the tone for the rest of the album, I know this is a cliché but, in this case, it’s very true. It gives you the first taste of hard-hitting riffs, dominant vocal work and solid song writing. The tones and lyrics such as “never be the victim of hatred, we stand as one, you’ll never defeat me” do well to match the tone the title portrays. As we listen to the rest of the album, you notice this stays consistent throughout.
As stated in the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of resurgence reads as a new increase of activity or interest in a particular subject or idea that had been forgotten for a long time. It’s no secret we have been living through uncertain times where we don’t what’s happening from day to day. As I write this, we aren’t quite out of the woods yet, but things are slowly returning to how it was before. Each song on the record lives up to this title, below are a few examples of what this album offers up.
The song Sign Of Fire is extremely powerful and interesting to me. The soaring and strong melody carries out poignant lyrics such as “what if we could go back to the start, the damage could be erased” and “you hide your pain, while you ignore your desires”. This can be interpreted in many ways; my personal thoughts are that it could be about someone running away from the first sign of trouble or it can run deeper than that as in being afraid to be vulnerable.
In terms of the music arrangements, LINKIN’ PARK come to mind when Memories starts to play. This song is incredibly raw, the songs I have heard with the title memories often tend to be positive and uplifting, this one takes a different turn. It’s the ones we keep repressed and don’t want to open up about. From the aggressive riffs to the hard hitting lyrics such as “each second feels like days”, this song does hugely well to address this. The calm instrumental rightly titled Reflection fits brilliantly right after the hard hitting tones we had experienced before that.
Forgotten Ghosts packs a solid punch lyrically and musically. From the moment it starts to play, you are drawn into the chaos this track gives off. Amongst this chaos, there are some important lyrics such as “we lost all hope in lies, hate and greed” and “if the fire dies, we will be forgotten ghosts”.
It ends with beautifully with an acoustic rendition of Sign Of Fire. It’s not often a song stops me in my tracks but this is what this one does. It also shows us that a song doesn’t need to be loud and distorted to have an impact.
Resurgence is a solid record and it’s further proof BLEED AGAIN are not here to mess around. It packs a punch from the off so if you decide to give it a spin, be prepared.
Rating: 9/10
Words: Lotty Whittingham
Resurgence will be released 29th October 2021.
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