Customer Reviews

Bleed

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very few people will understand when you say Angel Dust, and those who do will know how fantastic these guys are. No one deserves success more than this band- There LP Bleed can only be described as brilliant. The genre of power metal is hardly a well known one- there is no amazingly successfulwell known band who can say they belong here. So Bleed is something refreshingly new and unfamiliar. It kicks off with the title track, a sweet sounding piano and strings melody peice before kicking into a sprawling piano melody and heavy guitars. This is, in my opinion, the best peice here- the first I heard, and the song that immediately addicted me. This album is notoriously difficult to find; I was lucky enough to find a copy filed in the wrong place in an out of the way corner at my local record store. Your best chance is to order it off the internet (ie here). There is everything on this album; Muscular, solid riffs by metallica-style guitarists (these guys even look like 80s metallica) full strings sections, electronic beats. The true highlights on this cd are firstly Dirk Thurisch voice (bizarrely Freddy Mercury on "black rain") and the piano lines. The piano in itself is complex and involving, and darkly pretty. Put underneath layers of guitar and vocals, and its magnificent. There really is nothing like it; Its a surprise no matter what your expecting.

I own all Angel Dust albums except their first one Into the Dark Past, and I can easily say that Bleed is by far their best work. Actually I like all of their discs but I think they released their most essential records from the Border of Reality to the Enlighten the Darkness era. Bleed was their album in-between... and their best!

Bands like Angel Dust and Rage updated their older sound with some more modern elements (symphonic arrangements, inclusion of keys and piano, more detailed production, etc.) and became the much needed breath of fresh air in the Euro power metal scene. The keyboards on this album have absolutely taken the depth of Angel Dust's music to a higher level. The piano intro of the title track is pure genius and one of the most unorthodox power metal songs of any band. This was the song that hooked me to Angel Dust and prompted me to go out and buy all their back catalog. With each release going backwards I discovered the band's thrash metal roots had indeed never been abandoned completely. Actually the thrash metal ingredients are still present on Bleed but they're not very much in the forefront. The band has chosen to bury them a bit deep in the compositions but it's definitely there when you give it a good listen.

Dirk Thurisch's vocal delivery on this album was one of the greatest changes as far as Euro power vocalists were concerned. He has a medium vocal range but quite often goes out of his way to hit higher notes with a very aggressive delivery. It is this expressive style in his singing that makes Bleed so special. All the keyboard arrangements have brought a very sparse and cool vibe to the songs yet Dirk's fiery vocal lines along with the sharp guitar solos which are all centred around Frank Banx's subtle bass work are phenomenal.

Bleed is not only the best Angel Dust album, but one of my favourite outputs of the entire power metal genre. It is far from the happy-go power metal albums with singers screaming their hearts out or twin guitar work dancing around incessant double drums. Angel Dust was among the first German bands to destroy this stale songwriting concept in power metal and actually aimed at creating heavy metal songs with a lot of power.

There is a great deal of variety on this disc going from the melodic song "Never" to the "Follow Me" parts 1 and 2 both of which offer different sides of the band. One of them is a slow and emotional ballad while the other employs the band's older thrash roots without getting overly loud. "Addicted to Serenity" and "Surrender?" are both insanely catchy with a nice chorus which you can sing along to although they both contain solid lyrical work. My copy of this CD is the regular edition with 9 tracks so "Liquid Angel", their ballad, closes the album. I noticed this copy contains the band's Rainbow cover "Temple of the King" which is also available on the amazing Dio tribute album Holy Dio. I think this is one of the best Rainbow covers I've heard. (The whole tribute album is very much recommended as well.)

If you don't own any Angel Dust discs, start with Bleed. Get Border of Reality and Enlighten the Darkness next. Most people I've met consider ETD their best work but I tend to disagree with that, still you can't go wrong with any Angel Dust disc. The only one I don't like as much as the rest is perhaps The Human Bondage.

Angel Dust gives the listener something fairly unique to progressive/power/epic metal music in that you rarely hear guitars THIS heavy coupled with a piano as is the case on the opening track "Bleed" (keyboards and synth maybe but not a piano, though it may be the keyboards that are mimicking a piano sound)). I mean, this is some heavy stuff--Iced Earth heavy--but the intertwining piano melody really throws you off. And that is good! As the album moves on, the keys take on a more traditional prog metal sound (think Awake-era Dream Theater) but it is still good. The songwriting is very strong on Bleed and the keys never overshadow the rest of the band as happens all too often in progressive metal (no, I'm not saying Angel Dust is prog but they do have similarities to many prog bands). Angel Dust's singer is good, though he is a bit rough. Don't let this scare you off but he (AD's lead singer) kinda reminds me of Offspring's lead vocalist only not nearly as annoying.

Angel Dust, from what I understand, used to be a thrash metal band and sometimes you can still hear that side of them. This is a good thing for it makes Bleed (and Angel Dust) all the more interesting and unique.

This album is for fans of Iced Earth, Savatage, Dream Theater & Superior. I'm not saying that's what Angel Dust sounds like (though there are some similarities to all four aforementioned bands), I'm just saying that if you like those four bands, you'll probably like Angel Dust's Bleed.

Angel Dust walks in the gray area that seperates power metal from progressive metal and epic metal from thrash metal. I don't know what to call 'em, but they're good.

Angel Dust is a power metal band with a slight thrash influence, which is probably due to the fact that they were originally a thrash metal band in the 80's. They resurfaced in 1998 with "Border of Reality" featuring a keyboard-soaked power metal sound with a mid-range gruff vocalist. 1999's "Bleed" built upon that sound. The album starts off with a flurry of piano-infected power metal anthems before taking a suprising turn into atmospheric techno soundscapes during the second half. Angel Dust would improve dramatically with the awesome 2000 concept masterpiece "Enlighten the Darkness", an essential purchase for all lovers of metal. Sadly, they would follow that up with the dreadful boredom of "Of Human Bondage", a record so bad that it made this great band split up.

The song "Bleed" starts off with an amazing piano part courtesy of Stephen Banx. It's incredibly beautiful and powerful. This is one of the most memorable piano parts in all of metal. Heavy guitar crashes down and rumbles along with the piano. "Bleed" may be the definitive Angel Dust song. It's brutally heavy yet beautiful and lush. It's epic, it's soaring, it's emotional. This is the perfect metal song. Dirk Thurisch really soars on the amazing chorus, "Can I leave and close my eyes for one more night? Can I pay to be set free of all this pain that makes me bleed?"

"Black Rain" starts off with promise but succumbs to the "let's shout 'black' repeatedly to sound dark and evil" symdrome. It may not bother many listeners, but I just get irked by repititious gang shouting of metal cliches like BLACK! BLACK! BLACK!

"Never" is another highlight of the album. A churning and grinding guitar coupled with liquid keyboard runs. The chorus is very beautiful. The end of the song features some extremely cool screaming by Dirk Thurisch along with searching harmony guitars.

"Follow Me" is an epic broken down into 2 tracks. The first part is very soft and acoustic. Dirk Thurisch puts in a memorable performance. "Do you remember a walk along the river? In the valley of our dreams?" This is very emotional and sad. The acoustic guitar and piano make this song exceeding gentle and beautiful. The last verse is much more powerful with its soaring vocals.

Part 2 of "Follow Me" is much heavier. It features the same melodic statements only elaborated upon with incredible heaviness. The lyrics to this part are very hateful and angry. This is perhaps the heaviest and darkest song I have ever heard Angel Dust do. It features some nice thrashy riffs and double bass drumming. The 2 part "Follow Me" is a stunning composition.

"Addicted To Serenity" features an addictive chorus and some fast riffing by Bernd Aufermann. The sparse piano and lush synth landscapes really add to this super-melodic song.

"Surrender" is over 7 minutes long and could probably be a couple minutes shorter as the mid-section goes a bit off track and is ultimately boring. The ending of the song is awesome, however, with Dirk's emotional screaming in the final chorus.

"Sanity" is a mid-pace journey into techno soundscapes. After starting off rather unimpressively, the song builds to a rather enjoyable tune. The second verse is really cool and the chorus is great as well. This is a suprising song that ends up succeeding. A fusion of techno and metal.

"Liquid Angel" is a very soft, slow ballad making use of sparse arrangements of piano and some acoustic guitar noodling. This is a very chilled song and a great way to end the album.

But wait, there are bonus tracks!!

"Memories" is a phenomenal happy power metal song! THE CHORUS! THE CHORUS! THE CHORUS!

Their cover of Rainbow's "Temple of the King" is suprisingly excellent. Great interpretation.

This was the second cd of this excellent group that i purchased. I was completely blown away by the melodic rock these guys orchestrated. My dad actually introduced me to these guys and the whole progressive metal family. The song "Bleed" is a very powerful song. The vocals down to the piano is done with excellence. If you never heard these guys you should definately check them out. I would recommend starting off with this cd first. Listen to it a few times and it'll grow on you. All of their other cds are great as well. They are definately a group that belongs in anyone's metal collection. Put the disc in the player and crank it up!

This is some of the best heavy metal I have heard in a long time.
I have never gotten into New Age Metal because I like to hear musicians that actually have some kind of musical talent and these guys have a lot of it. These aren't your typical metal band because they have great guitar rifts, a hard hitting drummer, and a vocalist wich actually has some vocal ability. If you are interested then check these guys out. They are worth it.

After buying _Bleed_ on a whim I am trying to spread this group's gospel around. In my opinion, power metal in the 90's doesn't get any better than this. Iced Earth is an obvious comparison, sharing the same dark concepts and crunchy riffs, but both bands stand on equally high pedestals.

After a brief stint as a thrash band in the 80's, Angel Dust reformed with a new lineup and gave us two great records (this being the second). The CD starts with _Bleed_, an awesome track that contains a percolating piano that fits perfectly. Like Iced Earth, this band is able to transcend the music and deliver powerful imagery through their lyrics. The US edition includes some cool bonus tracks, such as a nice b-side (Memories) and their killer take of Rainbow's _Temple Of The King_. Great great stuff. If you like this one, check out their "first" album _Border Of Reality_ (4 stars).

A very good follower after the amazing comeback "Border Of Reality". The Power Metal side of the band here is more accentuated, with lots of melodies and less fast parts, however it's very hard to find so better buy it as soon as you can!
Little defect: the tracklist has a press error, "Temple Of The King" and "Nightmare" are switched.

1999's Bleed is album #4 from German thrash-turned-power metal band Angel Dust. It was the first Angel Dust album I bought, and is still my favorite (I say this having not yet heard their two 80's albums). I remember reluctantly picking up Bleed in 2000, afraid that with its sinister looking logo and cover it might be a death metal album (at the time I couldn't stand the stuff, unlike today). Imagine my surprise when I heard the sublime keyboard intro to the title track followed by pure thrash riffs and Dirk Thurisch's powerful vocals.

Angel Dust may have started as a thrash band, but their 90's output was closer to power metal than anything else, and that was a transition that worked well for the band. After all, power metal was going through a revival of sorts at the turn of the century. The thrashy guitar riffs are still prevalent, but there was an obvious focus on melody and keyboards play a larger role in Angel Dust's sound than they would in a thrash band. Thurisch's voice is somewhat raspy and he has a bit of an accent, but it's no less powerful for that. I can see how people would compare Angel Dust to Iced Earth, especially in terms of guitar riffs, but the similarities don't go much further than that. I hear elements of Angra, Tad Morose, and Gamma Ray more than anything else.

Overall, Bleed is an impressive power metal album that should have received more attention than it did. The title track is the album's best song, but "Black Rain", "Follow Me Parts 1-2", "Surrender", and "Liquid Angel" also stand out. Fans of the late 90's power metal sound would do well to check out Angel Dust, and if my reaction is any indication, Bleed is the perfect album to start with.

Edition Notes: Century Media's issue of Bleed features three bonus tracks. "Memories" was an outtake from Border of Reality, "Temple of the King" (a Rainbow cover) also appeared on the Holy Dio: Tribute to Ronnie James Dio album (which is well worth hunting down), and the third was an extended version of the Border of Reality track "Nightmare".

A must own in the Power Metal genre. A 'desert island' album of towering magnitude. Musicality, originality and various emotions and themes all drilled into one album without the 'wankerism' of other progressive power metal groups focused solely on instrumentation. This album picks you up, throws you down and scoops you back up again leaving you breathless.

1. Bleed **** Gritty electric guitar power chord progression over an ostinato keyboard line rips into a moderately difficult solo. Vocals are desperate, fitting the hopelessly dark lyrics.

2. Black Rain *** Repetitive speedy guitar riff. Song continues to be quite repetitive, although has nice keyboard/guitar solos.

3. Never **** Wicked gritty intro riff. Song steps down into lighter and slower interludes then back into the heavy sections to build up your anticipation. Some great keyboard work here.

4. Follow Me (Part I) ***** A welcome change of pace from the first three tracks. A lighthearted pleading song intended for a lover. An ostinato guitar riff with acoustic lead. Incredible hope extoled in this ballad. "Why don't you follow me?"

5. Follow Me (Part II) ***** Uses the theme from the previous track, but changes the tone. Instead of possibilities it speaks of lost hope. Song begins with an extremely unique spanish guitar riff over dark bass line. Builds up as heavy guitar and drums lead into the lyrics that give the feeling of anger and resentment. "Cause you didn't follow me!"

6. Addicted to Serenity *** Don't let the title confuse you, this is a speedy thrashy metal track that maintains the same intensity throughout with a speedy yet not overly technical solo.

7. Surrender *** A 7 minute epic but I couldn't completely get into this track - the lyrics are too screamy, although it has some nice changes, the instrumentation is quite simple with the exception of decent solo.

8. Sanity **** Song has a nice intro, almost a Type O Negative and Rammstein feel. The gritty guitar line and vocals move at a food stomping pace that allows one to really get into the song. Has some great guitar fills. An extremely melodic chorus.

9. Liquid Angel *** A Sonata Arctica feel to the song. Has a nostalgic feel with a slow piano line building up and falling down, building up and falling down.

10. Memories **** Continues the emotions from the previous track with a heavy distorted guitar then breaks into shred city, maintaining a strong intensity until the end of the track.

11. Nightmare ***** - With this track, Bleed ends in a BANG. With a phased bass line and pinch harmonicized heavy guitar line lead by lyrics with great intensity. As the song builds into the chorus, this song goes through a number of build-ups. The chorus of this song typifies this album.

"I'm just your only nightmare, etched in your mind, I'm just your ownly nightmare, and I'll be back - night after night."