Band:	Divine Heresy
Album:	Bleed The Fifth
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	August 2007

01. Bleed The Fifth
02. Failed Creation
03. This Threat Is Real
04. Impossible Is Nothing
05. Savior Self
06. Rise Of The Scorned
07. False Gospel
08. Soul Decoded (Now And Forever)
09. Royal Blood Heresy
10. Closure

Ever wondered what Fear Factory would sound like if they dropped their new wave and post-punk leanings and instead focused more on bludgeoning the senses with their trademark rhythmical death metal approach? Well, Divine Heresy's Bleed The Fifth offers to answer this question as it is the new project of founding Fear Factory member Dino Cazares and by and large, is a nonstop extreme assault, often managing to one-up his previous band in terms of intensity. It is also a fairly decent album, mired only by its slight metalcore leanings, which take away from the music's originality.

Considering that Fear Factory is the quintessential 90s metal band and that their influence on modern metal is very evident, Bleed The Fifth sounds quite fresh and exciting. The most notable difference is that where Dino's previous band would choose a mellower approach, Divine Heresy instead tends to go in a blast-beat frenzy, propelled by the impressive drumming of Tim Yeung (known, among other things, for being the live drummer of Vital Remains). Yeung's drumming might not be as technical or innovative as Raymond Herrera's; however, it is definitely faster and places the band firmly within the confines of the death metal sound. The band's vocalist, Tommy Vext (a newcomer), has a better vocal range than Burton C Bell does; however, he lacks his charisma. Nevertheless, it is a good thing that Dino's fellow band members are not entirely apt at imitating the style of his previous band, since this forces them to focus on their own talents and establishes Divine Heresy as a separate entity. For example, Vext's clean vocal approach recalls the emotional, soaring singing of Keith Caputo and results in some of the better and more memorable choruses in the contemporary nu-thrash and metalcore scenes. Cazares also modifies his approach accordingly, even providing solos and decidedly more melodic riff patterns.

All of what has been mentioned above would have been meaningless were the songwriting on Bleed The Fifth sub-par. Luckily, more often than not, it is quite stellar. "Savior Self" will have you singing the chorus long after the song has ended, while "Royal Blood Heresy" utilizes the band's brutality to its full potential and its slightly symphonic sound makes the likes of Dimmu Borgir sound laughable in comparison. Sadly, certain songs are also flawed, such as "Soul Decoded (Now And Forever)" and "Impossible Is Nothing", which both overuse breakdowns and lack dynamics. More often than not, the band's intensity is able to make up for uninteresting songwriting though.

Bleed The Fifth is a mostly successful death metal hybrid. Perhaps giving Dino the boot from Fear Factory might not have been such a good idea after all? Either way, this album is worth hearing.