Dust to Ashes and Portrait of the Goddess (1999–2002) Bleeding Through, a band from
Orange County, California, traces its origins back to 1998, when a
hardcore punk band named Breakneck was founded by vocalist
Brandan Schieppati and guitarist Javier Van Huss, then both of
Eighteen Visions. Completing the lineup were guitarist Scott Danough, bass guitarist Chad Tafolla, and drummer Troy Born. Van Huss and Schieppati had also both played guitar in the Orange County band
Throwdown. Breakneck played only one live performance, opening for Throwdown, Eighteen Visions, and Adamantium among others. Schieppati, who had replaced Van Huss in Throwdown and was still playing guitar for them at the time of Breakneck's show on top of Eighteen Visions, left Throwdown to focus on fronting his own group after the Breakneck show. The band undertook many lineup changes in its early days. Van Huss was the first departure; he was briefly replaced by
Dave Peters, after which Tafolla switched from playing bass to guitar. The vacant bass position was temporarily replaced by Brandon Conway; Marc Jackson was recruited as the next permanent bassist. Jackson quit the band before the band began recording their debut album, and added Vijay Kumar as the band's new bassist. The band also established a keyboardist in Molly Street. followed the next month by Kumar. Despite these losses, the band released their debut album,
Dust to Ashes, on March 25, 2001 through Prime Directive Records. Kumar later reversed course and returned to the band, and Born was quickly replaced by Derek Youngsma, In August 2001, following the band's first tour, Tafolla left the band and was replaced by Brian Leppke. After completing a tour of the American West Coast with
From Autumn to Ashes, the band entered a studio to begin recording their new album around December, with a tour between recording sessions accompanying Throwdown from late December into early January. The record, titled
Portrait of the Goddess, was completed in early March 2002, and it was released on April 13. A few days later, Kumar left the group for good, and was replaced by Eighteen Visions'
Mick Morris the following month. though the band were forced to withdraw from several of the July shows after Schieppati was injured after a show in
Newport Beach, California. The band would go on to play at
Hellfest later that year. Schieppati opted to pursue Bleeding Through as a priority after completion of
Portrait of the Goddess, followed by Street's replacement with Marta Demmel (then Peterson).
This Is Love, This Is Murderous (2003–2005) , 2005 After these two relatively under-distributed albums, Bleeding Through signed to a larger label,
Trustkill Records, in 2003. Their third full-length album, the
Ulrich Wild-produced
This is Love, This is Murderous, was released that September, to generally favorable reviews from critics. It was the band's breakthrough album, The band embarked upon tours across the United States, first opening for
AFI, followed by the ill-fated Pure Hatred tour with
Chimaira,
Soilwork and
As I Lay Dying. These dates had propelled the band to national attention not because of the initial reception of their music, but because of an accident captured by live television crews which happened to involve the band. Traveling from Utah to a show in Colorado, the group's tour van hit
black ice on the highway, spinning out of control and slamming into a truck that was already flipped over. A mobile TV unit reporting for
Salt Lake City's
KSL-TV was present to report on another crash, but ended up catching the band's collision on film as their equipment trailer rolled and exploded, showering their instruments and gear across the road. The band escaped with only minor injuries; however, with their gear and vehicle destroyed, the group was forced to drop off the tour. which culminated in a sold-out homecoming performance at The Glasshouse in Orange County. This date was captured on a live DVD, titled
This Is Live, This Is Murderous. Later that year, the band toured with
Ozzfest, sharing the second stage alongside headline act
Slipknot and fellow supports
Unearth,
Lamb of God,
Every Time I Die,
Hatebreed,
Lacuna Coil and
Atreyu. They earned the direct support position on MTV2's third Headbangers Ball: The Tour in November, featuring
Cradle of Filth,
Arch Enemy and
Himsa as touring partners. Bleeding Through also contributed their rendition of "
Rocket Queen" to the
Guns N' Roses tribute album
Bring You to Your Knees released by Law of Inertia Records in 2004. A 2005 re-issue of
This Is Love, This Is Murderous added three bonus live tracks, "Revenge I Seek", "Rise" and "Our Enemies", two music videos and a ten-minute documentary. Following this, the band embarked upon a European tour in February 2005, supported by
Cult of Luna.
The Truth (2005–2007) In April, the group entered
Cherokee Studios with producer and then-
Anthrax guitarist
Rob Caggiano. Together, they began work on a new album titled
The Truth. further touring found the band headlining the second annual Strhess Fest in alliance with
Darkest Hour,
Zao,
Misery Signals, and Fight Paris commencing early July. Upon completion of these gigs the group joined the
Warped Tour for a two-week stretch. November saw shows with Day of Contempt, before the group entered the recording studio to record cover versions of
Black Flag's "
My War", for use on a tribute album, and
Unbroken's "Fall On Proverb".
The Truth was released on January 10, 2006, through Trustkill. The band decided to rebuild their sound from the ground up; Danough told
Alternative Press that the band's approach involved "Taking out the Metalcore, and then adding the metal into hardcore, if that makes any sense," while Leppke added, "I don't think this album sounds like anything else out there right now. We're very proud of that fact." and No. 1 on the Top Independent Albums. To promote the album, the band opened 2006 with US dates throughout February and March backed by Every Time I Die,
Between the Buried and Me and
Haste the Day. The band also put in a significant appearance on the second stage at the UK's
Download Festival in
Castle Donington on June 9. On July 18, Bleeding Through appeared on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Stand-up comedian
Mitch Fatel joined the band for a song. The group once again played on the second stage at the 2006 Ozzfest, now as part of the year's permanent lineup along with
Black Label Society,
Unearth,
Atreyu and
Norma Jean. During days Ozzfest was not performing, Bleeding Through played shows supporting
Disturbed,
Avenged Sevenfold and
Hatebreed. The band members were on a day off from the festival passing through
Medford, Oregon, when they pulled into a
Taco Bell parking lot to eat. This resulted in a fan recognizing them and then calling over a bunch of his friends. The band talked with the fans, signed autographs, posed for pictures and also asked the kids if there were any shows happening that night they could participate in. They ended up doing a small club concert with local bands, with roughly 150 people in attendance. The show was a benefit with all proceeds going toward cancer research. Danough agreed to mutually part ways with the band in April. According to a statement released by the band, Danough and the other members "had grown apart and it was time for both parties to move on". Danough was quickly replaced by
Jona Weinhofen of
I Killed The Prom Queen – one of several factors that led that band to disband. The band then toured as the opening act for the
Slayer and
Marilyn Manson summer tour. Following that, the group embarked on a six-week stint across the North America opening for
HIM, finishing the touring cycle for
The Truth on December 1 and 2, 2007.
Declaration and record label issues (2008–2009) In March 2008, Bleeding Through announced
Declaration as the title of its fifth studio release, a
concept album about the rigors of being away from home. The band's frontman and lyricist
Brandan Schieppati explained to
Revolver in the magazine's May 2008 issue, "There are definitely places when we're traveling where every time we go there, we're like, 'Fuck, why do we have to be here?' Like, we'll be in France and all of a sudden we'll feel totally insignificant. You get the feeling that people's eyes are just burning a hole through you." , 2009 On June 6, 2008, the band released a blog on MTV's
Headbangers Ball website, addressing numerous disappointments the band had with
Trustkill Records. These disappointments included unpaid royalties, lack of funding for
Declaration, and an unapproved re-release of
The Truth titled
The Complete Truth. Despite Trustkill's website saying that the new album,
Declaration would be released August 2008, the band stated that they did not intend to hand over the
master recording of the album until they were paid the minimum fees required to pay back Townsend, the band's management, and Schieppati's father who loaned the band money for recording. According to the statement, the band had suggested their own vision of an extended re-release of the album over a year prior, but Trustkill owner Josh Grabelle rejected the idea. However, when Trustkill ran into financial difficulties, Grabelle pushed for the re-release without any input from the band in an effort to stabilize. According to Schieppati, Trustkill was only able to deliver these funds because they had borrowed the money from one of their distributors. Following the recording of
Declaration, the group returned to the United Kingdom for
Download Festival, which was held from June 13–15, 2008 at Donington Park. During the festival, vocalist Brandan Schieppati spoke to
Rock Sound TV about the group's dispute with its record label. During the conversation, Schieppati revealed that Bleeding Through had been contacted by a number of other record companies since the band went public with its Trustkill feud. In July 2008, the band signed a European distribution deal with
Nuclear Blast for the release of
Declaration. The band performed in the No Fear Music Tour with
Bullet for My Valentine across the US in August 2008. This included a stop in
Mexico City in August as part of the
Warped Tour with
Underoath and
MxPx, which was Bleeding Through's first ever show in Mexico. The next day,
Declaration was released in Europe by
Nuclear Blast, and a US release followed on September 30 through Trustkill. The album sold under 6,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, debuting at number 104 on the
Billboard 200 chart. The band then accompanied Bullet for My Valentine throughout Europe with
Lacuna Coil in November and December. The European tour featured four headlining shows in Russia in December, the band's first performances there. Bleeding Through co-headlined the
Thrash and Burn European Tour with
Darkest Hour between April and May 2009. By the end of this tour, Bleeding Through had severed ties with Trustkill. In late May 2009, Bleeding Through announced that Weinhofen would be leaving the band, and
No Use for a Name guitarist Dave Nassie would replace him. Weinhofen cited that while he loved his time in Bleeding Through, he decided that he should leave the band and return home to Australia with his family and friends. The band then embarked on a special tour of the American west coast in August to celebrate their tenth anniversary. They were supported by
Carnifex,
Miss May I, and
Motionless in White. The band intended to conclude 2009 with a tour alongside
Satyricon,
Toxic Holocaust, and
Chthonic in September and October. However, the band were forced to stop touring halfway through their North American trek and return home due to "some personal / family business that must be attended to immediately." Instead, the band joined
Tiger Army on October 31 as a special guest for the closing night of their signature event, Octoberflame. On October 12, 2009, Bleeding Through issued a statement that they would be starting work on a new album in December, with the goal of releasing it in 2010. Preceded by the release of two songs, "Anti-Hero" and "Breathing in the Wrath", the album sold 3,700 copies in its first week and debuted at number 143 on the
Billboard 200. The tour was extended into Japan and Australia, with
Crossfaith and
Emmure opening the shows in the respective countries. Youngsma did not partake in this leg of the tour, as the birth of his second child was near. His position was filled by Mark Garza, then of
the Famine. Bleeding Through followed with their own headlining tour of the US, titled Spring Breakdown, with
Born Of Osiris and
Sleeping Giant. The tour concluded with an appearance at the California Metalfest festival in
Pomona, California, on May 16, 2010. Following the conclusion of Spring Breakdown, the group filmed a music video for the song "Anti-Hero", released on May 26, 2010. This was followed by a return to Europe supporting
the Faceless, including a stop at
Graspop Metal Meeting. In August 2010, the group headlined a tour of California with
Terror and
The Ghost Inside. The following month, they headlined the Anti-Hero Tour across the US with support from
For Today and
After The Burial. After that, they finished their touring for the year by once again returning to Europe, joining
Parkway Drive and
Comeback Kid for the
Impericon Never Say Die! Tour.
The Great Fire, disbandment announcement and final tours (2010–2014) In a November 2010 interview, Wombacher stated Bleeding Through hoped to release their seventh album in the second half of 2011. The band planned to write and record their seventh studio album once they returned from touring for the self-titled album. At that point, the band had not yet chosen a recording studio, and they planned to self-produce the album. After recording the album, Nassie stated in an interview that the recording process was much more comfortable than their last effort, describing it as "totally free-form", adding that "No one was afraid to change something, even down to the last minute. For this record, we were changing things down to the last day of mixing." He also described it as "our strongest record — super-brutal and over-the-top". On November 24, 2011, it was announced that their album,
The Great Fire, was complete, though no release date was stated at that time. Produced by
Anaal Nathrakh's
Mick Kenney, the album was released on January 31, 2012. It was preceded by the release of the song "Faith in Fire" on December 20, 2011, at which point the track listing and cover art was also revealed, followed by the release of "Goodbye to Death" a month later. The album sold 3,000 copies in its first week to debut at number 193 on the
Billboard 200 chart. The band supported the album with a six-date headlining tour between January and February 2012 with
Upon a Burning Body and Suffokate. The band were due to embark on
Demon Hunter's "
True Defiance 2012" tour of North America alongside
Cancer Bats and
the Plot in You in July and August 2012, but were forced to drop out due to Schiepatti requiring emergency
orthodontic surgery. On January 3, 2013, Bleeding Through announced their upcoming tour in Europe would be their last, leading to rumors that the band would be breaking up. This was later confirmed by a statement to
Blabbermouth.net from Schieppati, who said that they would disband following a final tour of North America, Europe and Australia. Schieppati reasoned that life events and personal ventures by each of the band members made it impossible to continue Bleeding Through. Demmel later elaborated that the band did not want to operate in a "part-time" capacity, and thus opted to put the band to an end. In February 2013, Bleeding Through announced that Danough would return to the band for the European leg of the tour. In November 2013, Bleeding Through embarked on a farewell tour of North America, supported by
Winds Of Plague,
Oceano,
Gideon and
Sworn In. En route to the final show of the tour in
Albuquerque, New Mexico—and almost ten years to the date of their van accident on the Pure Hatred tour—the band's van drove off the road and their trailer was totaled. Despite this, no one was injured and the band's performance in the city went ahead as planned. The band's first performance in 2014 was an appearance at New England Hardcore & Metal Fest at the
Worcester Palladium on April 17; it was the band's final performance on the American East Coast. In May, the final nine West Coast dates were announced with Winds of Plague and Scars of Tomorrow. The band's final performance came on August 3, 2014, at Chain Reaction in
Anaheim, California.
Reunion and Love Will Kill All (2018–2022) In December 2015, Bleeding Through reunion rumors began to circulate after a new post surfaced from the band's official Facebook account, which read "Nothing Is Over. 2016". Days later, the band clarified that their return was for one show, and had no further plans. On January 1,
SharpTone Records issued a teaser for music they were releasing in 2018 and some listeners apparently recognized vocalist Brandan Schiepatti's voice on their page. On March 28, 2018, the band announced they were returning with a new album,
Love Will Kill All, and it would be released on May 25 through SharpTone. According to Schieppati, who suffered from mental health problems and went through a divorce while the band was inactive, much of the album's content revolved around the band's frustrations with the music industry which led to their breakup, as well as with friends he lost during that period, alongside the resulting feelings of isolation. followed by "Fade into the Ash" on May 11. The band's first reunion show was a sold-out gig which took place on June 8 at the Observatory in
Santa Ana, California. Footage from the video was featured in the music video for the song "No Friends", released on July 4. Among other shows, the band played at festivals to promote the album, including East Coast Tsunami in
Reading, Pennsylvania and Texas Revolution in
Austin, Texas. In 2019, the band made a stop on the
San Diego stop of Hatebreed's 25th anniversary tour, and the Musink Festival in
Costa Mesa, California, followed by performances at European festivals that year, including Jera on Air in the Netherlands that June, and
With Full Force in Germany. The band performed at the Hell and Heaven Fest in Mexico City in March 2020 at the advent of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Rage EP and 20th anniversary of This Is Love... (2022–2023) In November 2020, Schieppati announced the band was working on new material with Kenney. Work progressed slowly over the course of the next 14 months, but the band posted tentative song titles from the studio on their Instagram account in February 2022. On May 20, 2022, a single titled "Rage" was released. This was followed by the surprise release of an
extended play of the same name on July 1, 2022. Shortly after the release of the EP, Leppke was replaced by John Arnold. In November, the band announced two East Coast dates with the newly-reunited
God Forbid in January, followed in December by the announcement of new material in the works. The next week, a West Coast tour from February to April was announced, with
Ov Sulfur opening the first three dates. On April 21, 2023, Bleeding Through released a new song titled "War Time". The band also spent 2023 celebrating the 20th anniversary of
This Is Love, This Is Murderous; in July, the band went on a three-date tour of Texas to celebrate the anniversary alongside Unearth, who were celebrating 25 years together as a band. After the band played the first night of Indecision 30, a three-day festival celebrating Indecision Records' 30th anniversary later that month, the band released a re-recorded version of "Love Lost in a Hail of Gun Fire" on August 16, 2023. During the same recording sessions, the band also re-recorded the songs "On Wings of Lead" and "Number Seven with a Bullet". The next three days were spent performing anniversary shows for the album in the
American Midwest, followed by back-to-back shows in
New York over the first weekend of September. The re-recorded version of "On Wings of Lead" was released later that year on November 24. One final anniversary performance took place on December 16, 2023, at Anaheim's
House of Blues.
Nine (2024–present) In early 2024, the band began to tease new material. By this point, Brandon Richter had become a guitarist for the band. While working on new material, the band appeared at the United Kingdom's
Damnation Festival in February, followed by the remaining two
This Is Love... anniversary shows in the
Pacific Northwest in March. On May 8, the band released the first song from their ninth studio album, titled "Our Brand Is Chaos"; they appeared at Big Texas Metal Fest in a few weeks later. They once again joined Unearth in June for a Boston date celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album
The Oncoming Storm. The band played a tour of Australia in September 2024, after which Bleeding Through released their album's second single, "Dead But So Alive" on September 17. They returned to the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival a few days later. These shows were the last to feature Wombacher, as he stepped down from performing shows with the band due to back injuries. On November 29, the group announced the upcoming release of the album, titled
Nine, alongside the release of a third song, "Path of Our Disease". At that time, the tracklist and cover art were also revealed; the album contains three guest appearances, something the band had not included on an album since
Declaration. One of these guests was Andrew Neufeld of
Comeback Kid, who was featured on "I Am Resistance", the album's fourth single which was released on January 9, 2025. On February 6, Wombacher announced his permanent departure from the band, citing multiple back injuries which led him to drop from the touring lineup the previous September. He remained on good terms with the rest of the band, and expressed pride in the upcoming album. == Musical style and influences ==