Bleeding Through

Wolves Among Sheep DVD (2005)

matt powers

At some point, God said "let there be hardcore" and soon after that, the "almighty one" couldn't handle it anymore, and then said "ah, the hell with it, let Orange County deal with them." Fast forward a couple years and we have the story of the OC's Bleeding Through.

In 2005, Trustkill Records has provided us with a DVD of one of the scene's most hard-charging bands (or so the label would lead you to believe depending how you look at things), Bleeding Through.

Band DVDs are hit and miss. Some are for die-hard fans; others like the Bouncing Souls are for fans of music that can truly appreciate the story of a band that is determined to "make it." Wolves Among Sheep falls into the latter category.

At a running time of 2 hours, we are hit with a documentary of epic proportions. Former Eighteen Visions guitarist and current Bleeding Through mouthpiece and leader Brandon Schipetti leads off the DVD talking about his band, his scene, and what the life is like. This DVD lets you know that the band is not a one dog show, as each and every member (current and former) is given proper airtime to talk about the band, its past and future.

Unlike a lot of hardcore bands, this one isn't made up of yeah dudes and bros. The band has wide-ranging influences (who would have thought bassist Ryan Wombacher's pedigree comes from a psychobilly background?), a good sense of humor (they have nicknames for everyone and their mother), their dedication and importance to the scene (as Eighteen Visions and Throwdown will attest), and a commitment to make this band the best they possibly can. Obviously, Metallica is on a much bigger scale, but in "Some Kind of Monster," you can tell the band is now a business to them, and when their new bassist entered, you can tell he would just get a phone call from Lars when it is time to go out on tour. When Bleeding Through had keyboardist Marta enter the fold, it was like they adopted a new member of the family and they embraced it. Touring in a van, rather then multiple buses will do that to a band

As extras go, this DVD is excellent. As you watch the story unfold, you forget how intense this band is on stage untill you witness the full set they provide with the package. The strength of the package is also its weakness. The live set the band provides is pummeling and raw with no mixing or going back in the studio. While awesome and gutsy, people that aren't huge fans of the band may have trouble picking up the different elements in the songs. Besides the one set from this summer's Strhess Tour, Bleeding Through also provides other songs from random shows, a music video for "Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire" and other on-the-road hijinx.

This collection is definitely worth the money. It is the perfect edition to a DVD collection for a rabid fan, a music enthusist, or a fan of the real OC. Cheers Bleeding Through.