Very rarely does an album reflect, with any accuracy at least, the fucking state of the world we live in. Desperation. Chaos. Hatred. Vitriol. Poison. Morbid Prophecy, the new album from London’s The Bleeding has all of these and plenty more to go around. This is an education in aural assault as brutal and as technical as any you are likely to hear these days. Depicting the fall of man into the abyss and his return to wreak terror and vengeance on non-believers, this is indeed an album for the times.
Opener ‘Demonic Oath’ begins with some Eastern-influenced riffs, not dissimilar to Metallica’s ‘Wherever I May Roam’, until about the 30 second mark when the band light the blue touch paper and take off at inordinate speed, beginning the descent into the abyss. A storm, slowly building, leads straight into ‘Maelstrom’, before we ‘Enter the Pandemonium’; both lessons in technical thrash brilliance, with some ear-destroying riffs and changes of pace. ‘Storm of the Hellspawn’ pummels mercilessly, with some serious displays of groove and rhythm playing in amongst the mayhem, only to be overtaken by ‘Sadistic Saviour’ in terms of unrelenting brutality.
Some relief then, when ‘Repentance’ is offered, providing a pleasing juxtaposition to the fury and hellfire which has preceded it. Beautiful acoustic guitar, providing a moment of sombre reflection, before being washed away in the final act, which appears, bearing the ‘Hammer of Penance’; a fittingly cacophonous workout with discordant riffs, rapid-fire solos and the screams of those eternally damned. Bearing all the hallmarks of the thrash greats; Kreator, Morbid Angel, Sepultura, Slayer, Death and so on, The Bleeding put their own stamp on the thrash genre and have delivered a soundtrack to make our descent into the abyss very enjoyable one indeed.
Morbid Prophecy is out 18th October via World War Now records and can be purchased here.
Words: Scott Crawford
