Bloodletter are a thrash metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.
Leave the Light Behind contains 35 minutes of well-written melodic thrash metal. Bloodletter bring something to thrash that I haven’t heard in ages – pure, unadulterated quality craftsmanship. I normally pass on thrash metal these days, but this one wouldn’t let me go.
The songs are written by people that clearly have an iron grasp on what makes this sort of music work. The sharp riffs are omnipresent, the hooks infectious, and it’s driven by melodic weight that really hits the mark. It’s well-crafted and polished, but retains an underground pedigree that comes from authenticity and passion. You can tell that Bloodletter love what they do. Despite how well-presented it is, this doesn’t detract from its power; there’s an enticing edge of danger to the songs, that’s part early Kreator, part blackened bite.
Yep, Bloodletter’s music strikes the right balance between underground and ambitious. A similar thing could be said of the musical style – it balances old and new elements, bringing together old-school thrash metal, with contemporary melodic enrichments borrowed from melodic death metal’s arsenal, and a touch of black metal. This recipe succeeds in allowing the band to have their cake and eat it. I go back to Kreator again – Leave the Light Behind strikes me as a good mix of different eras of Kreator, with aspects of bands such as The Black Dahlia Murder, Death Angel, Hellripper, Sarcator, Slayer, and Sodom thrown in. However, that’s not to imply that Bloodletter are without merit in their own right.
Bloodletter bring the riffs, the hooks, and the melodies to the party, and are ready to kick some serious behind. I used to love thrash metal so much, but listen to it less and less and less over the years as quality levels have taken a dive. Rare bands like Devastator are exceptions, and now it turns out that Bloodletter have that special something too that has brought me kicking and screaming back to the style. They have rubbed my face in their spiked riffery, and I’ve come back for more.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 