Bloodletter — Leave the Light Behind Review
Bloodletter the Melodic Thrash Metal force from Chicago, unleashed their fourth full-length ritual, “Leave the Light Behind,” on July 25th, 2025. Co-released via Wise Blood Records and Morbid And Miserable Records, this sonic invocation arrives on vinyl, cassette, CD, and digital formats.
The First Three Sins, The Summary
The Fourth Sin, Overall Discussion
Opening Invocation: The Sonic Assault Begins
The sonic assault commences the instant a listener presses play. The opening hymn, A World Unmade, ignites the auditory senses with a furious onslaught of aggressive instrumentation and guttural vocals. This initial burst is merely a harbinger of the relentless sonic journey that awaits.
As the listener progresses through the second hymn On Blackened Wings, and the remaining eight compositions, the music maintains its unyielding grip. The lyrical narratives delve deep into the abyss, exploring supernatural threats, cosmic beasts, and the crushing spectres of depression and mental illness. This is an ominous, dynamically crafted thrash record.
It strikes with a lethal intensity. The experience leaves the listener reeling — akin to suffering whiplash from a skull filled with malevolent spirits.
Ritual Precision: The Devil’s Craft Refined
The recording and overall sound design operate like a colossal sonic wave. It generates a soundscape that is both immensely heavy and aggressively charged. Encased within the musical framework, a rough, untamed energy permeates. This keeps everything raw, unpolished, and firmly rooted in the underground. Bloodletter’s ambition was to ingeniously fuse the melodic riffing characteristic of Funeral Hymns with the brute force of A Different Kind of Hell, aiming for “grandiose and dramatic arrangements” without sacrificing speed or memorability.
Bloodletter is a fruit of art that presents a composition and arrangement that have been meticulously honed to perfection. It exhibits a devilish precision — a devilmanship that’s tight and exceptionally well-oiled, music that runs like a finely tuned machine at peak capacity.
Sacred Melodic Riffs: Twin Serpents in Ritual Tanner
Pete Carparelli and Pat Armamentos wield twin guitars like sacred ritual blades. Harmonised leads rise like twin serpents, weaving intricate melodies atop relentless, battering-ram rhythms. Polished yet punishing, they summon the spirit of classic thrash metal while embracing the precision of modern melodic death metal. It’s a ritual of sonic violence—grandiose, dramatic, and steeped in otherworldly dread.
Tremolo-picked riffs shriek like banshees. The guitar solos slice through the mix with the destructive force of divine punishment. The track Night Terrors showcases a guest solo from Nate Madden of Immortal Bird—a piercing shriek of pure madness, echoing through collapsing cathedrals. Tanner Hudson’s bass riffs, while not always in the spotlight, provide a thick, subterranean and grim foundation. The bass powerfully anchors the entire chaotic structure. This is most potent in Terminal, where it fills the void between melodic hooks and rhythmic violence.
War Engine of the Cursed Tongue
Zach Sutton’s drumming is akin to a war engine in full operation. His blast beats are incredibly fast, yet executed with flawless precision. Gallops and snare strikes conjure dread with an almost surgical accuracy. Tracks like Call of the Deep One fluidly transition between blast-heavy chaos and mid-tempo dread. Pete Carparelli’s vocal delivery serves as a potent vessel of pure wrath. His barked declarations, guttural death growls, and piercing blackened shrieks form a litany of plague and prophecy. Each lyrical line feels utterly cursed. Every chorus serves as a dark summoning.
Final Offering: Thirty-Five Minutes of Sonic Violence
Ten heavy and aggressive songs comprise this offering. They deliver thirty-five minutes of pure sonic intensity. This is a sound that combines speed, harmonised riffs, and memorable themes that are sure to embed themselves in your mind. Highly recommended for fans of Death Angel, Warbringer, and Skeletonwitch.
Closing: The Final Benediction: Ashes, Echoes, and Eternal Hymns
As Leave the Light Behind reaches its final, war-torn breaths, we extend our gratitude to Morbid And Miserable Records for granting us passage into Bloodletter’s infernal soundscape. What began as a furious invocation now prepares for its final descent. Before we seal this review in ash and reverence, we turn to the last three sins—those final echoes that complete the ritual.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish
Bloodletter
Pete Carparelli — Vocals/Guitar
Pat Armamentos — Guitar
Tanner Hudson — Bass
Zach Sutton — Drums