With Blood Comes Cleansing Returns Posted February 24, 2025 By RyanAdams_NRT, Staff Reviewer
What You Need To Know:
What Blood Comes Cleansing has unleashed their third studio album - self titled, the first release since 2008. The Christian death metal band has a new lead singer, Robert Manzone, known for his solo project Searching Serenity. This new record features 9 songs that follow Christian martyrs.
What It Sounds Like:
In 2006, the band created the record called Golgotha and follows it in 2008 with Horror. These two albums demonstrated that Christian death metal bands can be just as devastatingly heavy as mainstream, alongside legends like Impending Doom. Even though they have a new lead singer, the band is still just as brutally intense as ever, if not more. You'll find nothing short of the gnarliest vocals from Robert that accompany the ruthless, steamrolling metal music that seamlessly ranges from death metal, thrash, metalcore, and hardcore at times.
Spiritual Highlights:
The album opens with an empowering proclamation of "we will overcome/through the blood that he sacrificed/all the trials that are in this world!". The following 7 songs explore the martyrdoms and lives of faith from Stephen, Peter, Simon, Mark, Bartholomew, Thomas, and Luke. As expected and rightfully so, the music is just as brutal and only empowers the extreme messages told. Personally, I am encouraged that a band returns nearly 20 years later from their last release with even more biblically sound messages and songs.
Best Song:
It is tough to decide from the hardcore-rooted "The Inverted Crucifixion" to Robert's amazing growls on "The Hanged." But overall, the former is a great example of prime Christian death metal - something that With Blood Comes Cleansing is here to deliver. The punchy, bouncy riffs are satisfyingly heavy and the hardcore "yelling" vocals are a fun addition to change things up a bit, from guest vocalist Daryn LaMontagne. I can imagine a non-stop circle pit to every song on this record that'll keep fans engaged while listening to messages of faith.
With Blood Comes Cleansing's self-titled is more than just a comeback, it's a testament to the days of Christian death metal's glory days in the 2000s when you had many other great bands alongside them. Few remain with such fervor nowadays, but this is exemplary work from both the musicians and the new frontman, Robert. There is little to say other than congratulations to a powerful reclamation of Christian death metal. This is truly a stand out this early in the year.
