Within the ferocious realm of UK underground scene, the all-around relentlessly fiery thrash/death unit The Bleeding have been hitting the ground since 2010, (technically) kickstarted by the release of first full-length entitled Rites of Absolution (2017) after several years of releasing EPs and demos, followed by second-full length Morbid Prophecy (2019). Having been noticeably compared to the likes of Exodus, Kreator, Death, and Demolition Hammer, they never cease to present the best of reaping thrash-death metal eclectic rawness.

The Bleeding had just released a third full-length via Redefining Darkness Records, entitled Monokrator with mixing and mastering process done by the Swedish Ronnie Björnström (who has previously worked with Buried Realm and Sacrificium, to name a few), while the soul-crushing artwork was done by Juanjo Castellano, a Spanish visual artist who also has created terrific artworks for many underground musicians to note, including Majesties. 

To me, Monokrator is a 31-minute constant journey of belligerent-paced, adrenaline-challenging blitzkrieg. Burning hard like incendiaries, the blending between death and thrash metal that they present appears to be beyond belief – with all the thrash-influenced profound riffs and diverse-ranged grooves as well as the death metal sonic madness. Don’t forget all those vehement force-laden drum beats and hard-edged bass lines, too!

The release of this album also passes as an introductory moment towards the arrival of new bassist Jordan Muscatello to the band, while also featuring an honorable guest feature from Helripper’s James McBain – which makes the performance even more spectacular.

My personal favorite track out of this half an hour masterpiece has to be ‘Chainsaw Deathcult’ – with a title straight-up sounding like a material released by Mayhem, it opens with bass lines at the speed of light and brutal-paced thrashings. The execution of the rapid and galloping vocals of the opening track ‘Chemical Lobotomy’ is a remarkable one as well, same goes with the blast beats that they presented on the track ‘On Wings of Tribulation’ – I’m a sucker for blast beats so of course that one goes well with me.

Listening to the 31-minute Monokrator is a solid gold experience for me. It’s in them redefining the very idea of darkness (haha, bad pun) in their own respective way.

Buy the album here:

https://thebleeding.bandcamp.com/album/monokrator

8 / 10

RALKA SKJERSETH