The UK hasn’t historically been a thrash hotbed, and a lot of the biggest names of the country’s first wave—Xentrix, Lawnmower Deth, Slammer, Acid Reign—have the dreaded “Humour” tag in their lyrical themes section on Metal Archives. Thankfully, London’s The Bleeding are here to drag UK thrash into the realm of horror. There isn’t a lot of funny business on their third LP, Monokrator. It offers 30 streamlined minutes of sharp-edged, old-school-worshiping death/thrash, executed with surgical precision.
There’s a Teutonic tint to a lot of what The Bleeding pull off on Monokrator. Kreator, Destruction, and Sodom all had a hand in the blueprint of this style of thrash, and The Bleeding clearly worship at their ichor-drenched altars. Per a band statement below, Monokrator was apparently birthed under difficult circumstances. It sounds like the band channeled all their rage and frustrationg into making it the most ruthlessly efficient death/thrash record we’ve heard in a while. Give the entire zero-percent-body-fat album a listen below, in advance of its June 9 release.
“Monokrator marks the third full-length release for The Bleeding. We aimed to push ourselves creatively and explore new territories within death and thrash metal. The result is our most intense and boundary-pushing sound to date, a testament to our dedication and growth. Throughout the creation of Monokrator, we faced numerous trials and tribulations. The turmoil in and around the band ignited a fierce determination within us. We channeled that energy into the music, pushing ourselves to our limits. It was a transformative process, one that led us to discover new depths of creativity and power. At the onset of writing Monokrator, we were fortunate to find a valuable ally in our new label, Redefining Darkness Records. Their unwavering support and wealth of experience provided us with the necessary incentive to strive for excellence and maintain a steadfast refusal to compromise. The album production and mix were handled once again by Ronnie Björnström. We strongly believe that this is the finest representation of our sound, seamlessly capturing our ‘old-school’ thrashing through a modern interpretation.”
Preorder Monokrator, out June 9 on Redefining Darkness Records here or here.
