Reaching The Summit With SCOTT KENNEDY From BLEED FROM WITHIN

Interview by Kris Peters
Two decades into any career and you would be forgiven for starting
to grow stale or formulaic. Be it an office job, labouring, or even
in the music industry, the old saying familiarity breeds contempt
holds firm. But try telling that to Scottish metal outfit Bleed
From Within who, after 20 years in the music scene, have reached
their peak - their Zenith, if you will.
The Glasgow firebrands are one of the hardest working acts in
metal: playing shows globally with everyone from Megadeth to
Slipknot, all while writing and regularly releasing monstrous,
exhilarating songs. The upward journey reaches new heights on their
seventh album, Zenith, which contains the band’s heaviest,
catchiest and most intrepid music to date.
The band's first two albums, Humanity (2009) and Empire (2010),
made Bleed From Within cult figureheads in the deathcore scene,
before Uprising (2013) broadened their palate with groove metal
adrenaline and melodic death metal prowess. It also marked their
major-label debut, catapulting them onto tours with heavy
royalty.
In 2018, the band returned with the ferocious Era. Then, follow-ups
Fracture (2020) and Shrine (2022) proved their greatest triumphs to
date, intertwining vocalist Scott Kennedy's snarls with Steven
Jones' majestic singing. The millions of streams gathered by such
singles as The End of All We Know, Into Nothing and Levitate proved
Bleed had become the next big thing. Now, on Zenith – announced
ahead of career-affirming tours with Slipknot, Trivium and Bullet
for My Valentine – the quintet are primed to leap into
superstardom.
HEAVY spoke with frontman Scott Kennedy to go deeper into
Zenith.
"It feels like we've been waiting so long to drop this album," he
sighed. "So, I'm buzzing for it to finally get out. I think it's
the best collection of songs we've ever done and I'm desperate for
people to hear it."
We ask Kennedy to talk us through what Bleed From Within were going
for musically with Zenith.
"To be honest, with Bleed From Within there's never really any
concepts or anything like that," he replied. "It's more just about
- for me personally - the songs are always about what I'm going
through at that point in my life. I always try to write from the
heart and write songs that are really meaningful because I don't
want to go on stage and sing a song that doesn't really mean
anything to me. I don't just want to go on and sing any old shit to
the crowd. With Bleeding From Within it's just always about writing
the best collection of metal songs that we possibly can, and I
truthfully believe that this is the best collection of metal songs
we've ever written."
In the full interview, Scott discussed Zenith further, expressing
his excitement about what he considers their best work to date. He
highlighted the opening track Violent Nature for its heavy and fast
nature, and elaborated on the collaborative songwriting process
among band members, emphasizing a natural evolution in their
music.
Scott also mentioned Bleed From Within's experimentation with
various musical elements, including strings and guest vocalists, to
achieve a distinctive sound. The discussion wrapped up with a
mention of upcoming tour plans and festivals following the album's
release.


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