Location: New York
Country: USA
Genre: Slam death metal
Full length: Settle All Scores
Format: Digital, cassette
Label: Maggot Stomp (California, USA)
Release date: October 17, 2025
Internal Bleeding has never whitewashed their derision toward pretenses of decency masking hidden agendas. Their observations of unscrupulousness and acquiescence is as vigorous as it was when they contributed to the start of slam death metal, pushing the genre forward just when it was taking shape.
In those days, death metal was a raw, exposed wound, a brazen declaration of independence from mediocrity. It saw greed, corruption, and hatred everywhere and confronted them without mincing words or softening the blow. Thrash metal stated "this is wrong," death metal stated "fuck you" to everything they saw wrong in the world.
The world is changing, and criticism of government, media, and the religious right is considered almost a matter of course. In those days that criticism caused much more of a stir. Do you remember when Sinead O'Connor was blacklisted for tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II on "Saturday Night Live"? While being cancelled remains an issue today, independent media provides more opportunities to voice similar sentiments.
Internal Bleeding sounds like an appropriate name for the band as the raw, open wound is on the inside, in the heart, never fully healing but driving their determination not to be defined by setbacks. They remind you there’s a reason those wounds exist, and a reason for the anger and nihilism.
"Settle All Scores" can be considered social critique, devoid of the journalistic civility associated with it. The band's appraisal of standards and judgment of what’s acceptable in society has always been dismissive, astringent and full of disdain, as they firmly placed themselves outside the norm with no desire to become part of it.
It's been about seven years since their last full-length album; the question is if their relevance can match their longevity after they helped shape slam and NYDM. Age frequently plays a role in bands discovering new methods to refine themselves or running out of new ideas.
Here they establish their crossing of DM, hardcore, and groove/hip-hop from the outset, bludgeoning you with the sonic impact of a Neanderthal caving in your skull with a massive club. The modern-ish production contains bottom, significantly contributing to the band's long-standing reputation for sluggish heftiness and abrupt start-stop time changes.
The carefully written riffs, persistent double kick drumming, systematic delivery, and quick transitions maintain their sense of freshness; it’s still a good representation of the spontaneity and effort that goes into their writing. In addition to placing greater emphasis on bass heaviness the band occasionally adds more melody, dissonant notes and dissonant chords.
The vocals overlap with some subtlety, occasionally mixing guttural vocals with more of a metalcore vocal style, demonstrating an effort to cover new ground while keeping to what set them apart. Above all, "Settle All Scores" makes no secret of the band being straight shooters, showing enhanced capacity of channeling awareness of deceit and exploitation that permeates our daily lives and utter refusal to be taken in.
"Enforced Compliance" is one of the heaviest and most relentless songs on the album, while "Deliberate Desecration" begins with a brief acoustic section before transitioning into melody and brutality. In short, there's enough here to justify Internal Bleeding's importance in death metal. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Steve Worley: Vocals
Chris Pervelis: Guitars
Chris McCarthy: Guitars, backing vocals
Ryan Giordano: Bass
Kyle Eddy: Drums
Track list:
1. Intangible Pact
2. Settle All Scores
3. Prophet of Deceit (Featuring Sherwood Webber)
4. Enforced Compliance
5. Crown of Insignificance
6. Empire of Terror (Featuring Joe Marchese)
7. Glorify the Oppressor (Featuring Jay Lowe)
8. Deliberate Desecration (Featuring Mikey Petroski and Frank Rini)
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