Bleeding Through is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in 1999. Influenced largely by hardcore punk and Swedish melodic death metal, the band was established by lead vocalist Brandan Schieppati as a personal project after leaving Throwdown. Schieppati, who also was a member of Eighteen Visions, originally balanced playing with Eighteen Visions and Bleeding Through, recording the independent albums Dust to Ashes (2001) and Portrait of the Goddess (2002) before departing Eighteen Visions to focus on Bleeding Through. The remainder of the band today comprises drummer Derek Youngsma, keyboardist Marta Demmel, and guitarists John Arnold and Brandon Richter. As of 2024, the band have sold more than 400,000 albums worldwide.
In 2003, Bleeding Through signed with Trustkill Records and released their breakthrough album, This Is Love, This Is Murderous. Shortly after the album's release, the band receceived considerable media attention outside of the heavy metal community for their involvement in a van crash accidentally filmed on live television in December 2003. This Love was critically lauded and was followed by The Truth (2006) and Declaration (2008), both through Trustkill.
The release of Declaration was marred by financial hardship and conflicts with Trustkill; following the completion of the touring cycle for the album, the band severed ties with the label and signed to Rise Records in 2009. They released two albums through Rise, Bleeding Through (2010) and The Great Fire (2012), before the group disbanded in 2014. They remained inactive for three years before reuniting in 2017, releasing Love Will Kill All (2018) through SharpTone Records. The band's latest album, Nine, was released on February 14, 2025.
History
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). For consistency in this article, she is referred to by her married name.|group="nb" Morris eventually returned to Eighteen Visions later that year, and his role in Bleeding Through was filled by Ryan Wombacher.
This Is Love, This Is Murderous (2003–2005)
thumb|Bleeding Through performing live at [[New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, 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."
thumb|left|upright|Ryan Wombacher performing live in [[Barcelona, 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.