Written by Sierra Walsh
Remember to do some neck stretches before listening to Fracture. While you’re at it, maybe give your neighbors a warning about how loud you’re about to blast this entire album. Bleed From Within’s fifth studio album, Fracture, is everything a metalhead loves with the added bonus of a track featuring Trivium’s Matt Heafy. It feels like a personal journey while the world completely flips, there is a shift to a new reality, and, the underdog ends up creating a place where he comes out on top. Overall, Fracture feels like an album that wants to be a catalyst for change and hope for a better tomorrow.
“End of All We Know” sounds like the underdog’s battle cry. The familiar systems are crashing and burning, however there is the hope that the people will be able to rise up to create something better. Personal journeys begin from being the ones that “spent years on the ground looking up at the world for mercy” to finding the will to make it out of hell. A new normal sets in as “I shed my skin once and for all.” He starts to realize what needs to happen internally and externally in order to heal from such a collapse. The track touches on how there has been no shortage of opinions being voiced, however, none have brought enough progress to prevent catastrophe. There’s hope even when “the light is shifting out of sight/But not out of mind” giving a sense that those who persevere and remain willing to help themselves as much as others will be the ones that create the deepest impacts on the emerging reality.
As good title tracks do, “Fracture” amplifies the tone of the whole album. Building on the feelings presented in “End of All We Know,” the title track acknowledges how broken the world already was. Anger towards it builds when “I can see what was not meant to be” but not having much power to fix what was wrong. There are walls that the people built themselves and once there was the realization that was a mistake, there’s mounting desperation to break them back down. However, there’s an opportunity to lead a revolution when “it fell apart at the seams.” Salvation feels like an illusion but at the same time, determination fuels the journey into a better tomorrow, even if it is taken alone.
“Night Crossing” featuring Matt Heafy presents the inevitable in crossing “the line from good to bad” and unable to go back. There’s the constant pull between the two and an attempt to find balance, but at the same time “hate is all I got.” Upon first listen, it sounded like arriving at the inevitable because “I crossed this night somewhere in the distant future.” Eventually, the comfortable familiar will fall to the wayside. The unknown seems too domineering, but holding onto some passion (in this case, hatred) and self-reliance will fuel one forward. Proclaiming “our suffering ends tonight” gives an ominous vibe of a leader doing everything he can to create a utopia, even if he unsure of what he really wants to see.
At the end of it all, there may never be perfection. However, “A Depth No One Dares” touches on how the fight will still be worth it. Even after getting through the worst of mental and physical states, the need to persevere will never let up. Acknowledging “the pieces are a part of me” helps with recognizing how far one has already come and not being afraid of their reality fracturing. Rebuilding oneself isn’t a linear journey. There will be moments when someone needs to dive back down into a depth no one else dares to go in order to prevent or heal from everything they know falling to pieces.
Overall, the more I listened to Fracture, I found what I liked—especially lyrically. Throughout the whole album, I could envision some of the tracks being used in fight scenes in a post-apocalyptic TV series. There’s a mystical element in all of Bleed From Within’s lyrics and this shines most in “Night Crossing.” A bit of a nostalgia trip happened while listening to Fracture that made me think of how cool a show would be if they toured with Parkway Drive. Bleed From Within is definitely a band that needs to be on your radar and Fracture is definitely an album you don’t want to miss out on.
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