Review: With Blood Comes Cleansing
Album Review
With Blood Comes Cleansing, With Blood Comes Cleansing
Released 2025
Reading the lives of the saints is something I’ve loved doing over the years. Few things
can inspire a Christian as much as reading about the lives of those who came before us. It’s a
great way to remember that “we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.” (Heb.
12:1). With Blood Comes Cleansing’s latest release seems to want to remind us of that, but in
the most heavy way possible.
Once upon a time, With Blood Comes Cleansing were a big name in Christian deathcore
music. Releasing their first demo and the famed Dern EP in 2005, they quickly established
themselves with their first album, Golgotha, a record that married the usual brutality and
breakdowns of deathcore with an undeniable sense of melody and an extra emphasis on
hardcore-style gang shouts. 2008’s Horror followed, but the band soon broke up not long after in 2010.
Perhaps this was a good thing in some ways; over the years that followed, deathcore
began to gradually wane in popularity. The initial power of deathcore’s punishing breakdowns, in
my view at least, lost its effect. Fast forward to 2025. It seems time has done wonders to the
lads in WBCC. Like an unearthly monster sealed away in a forgotten tomb, left to rot in its own
juices and fester, WBCC has awoken with a vengeance.
The initial rumblings were felt with their Golgotha (2024 Redux) EP, with vocalist Michael
Sasser (of the Golgotha album) returning with a way more guttural vocal approach. But WBCC’s
self-titled album has taken it all to the next level.
With Blood Comes Cleansing manages to take deathcore and make it exciting again. It
recaptures that feeling I used to get when I would crank Impending Doom’s Nailed. Dead.
Risen. as loud as possible – the dropkick effect of the breakdowns, the insanely low gurgles and
roars, the pure impact that the music had. There’s no deathcore-lite nods to mainstream acts
like Slipknot, and it doesn’t descend into the simply chugging and gurgling that many slam
bands do. That said, this is about as heavy as deathcore gets. I’ve mentioned it already above,
but it’s like WBCC have here tried to outdo Impending Doom’s initial salvo in terms of utter
brutality.
I’ll admit, the first track, “Joshua 1:9,” didn’t hook me. The one-note chugging guitars
generally never do it for me, and here was no exception. But then the rest of the album followed.
Where Impending Doom’s NDR focused especially on relentless, death/grind-like speed, With
Blood Comes Cleansing largely slows the music down to a monstrous groove. Robert Manzone,
formerly of Legion of Adonai, couldn’t be a better pick as a vocalist. This guy’s vocals make the
listener sound like they’re being swallowed by an angry sandworm from Dune. Breakdowns
avoid being too simplistic, and actually boast some extremely ominous riff patterns. Of course, it
wouldn’t be a WBCC record without the overt hardcore gang shouts, and these are still here.
Daryn Lamontagne of hardcore outfit Southpaw FLHC features on an adrenaline-unleashing
cameo on track “The Inverted Crucifixion (Peter)” that sees the band lean the most towards
hardcore that they ever have.
On the lyrical end, the entire album is focused on the martyrdoms of the holy apostles
and earliest followers of Christ, from St. Stephen the deacon and protomartyr to St. Luke the
Evangelist. Each track focuses in hard on the brutal ways that tradition records their deaths, and
though there are occasionally discrepancies about the manner, the message is the same.
WBCC have no time for what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” For those who think Christian
metal bands are growling about happiness and hugs, think again. Yes, these songs are about
love, but a love that loves to the end, that is willing to die for its neighbour and for Love itself;
that is, the Holy Trinity. St. Bartholomew was reportedly skinned alive; St. Peter was crucified
upside-down because he felt unworthy to be executed in the same way as Jesus Christ; St.
Thomas was run through with spears. It’s hard subject matter to read about, and I would think
most of us would quake at the thought of dying in the manner that these holy men did. But the
album serves to remind us that these followers of Christ followed Him to the very end, no matter
what. If anything, it should inspire us and help us strive to ground our courage in Christ.
If you’ve found yourself losing interest in deathcore as a style, prepare to be excited
again. With Blood Comes Cleansing have aged with grace, and returned to remind younger
bands what the old-guard of deathcore are capable of. With Blood Comes Cleansing is a
riveting listen, and a welcome return to the style’s roots.
https://www.withbloodcomescleansing.com
For Fans Of: Impending Doom, Thy Art Is Murder, Voluntary Mortification
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