Back in 2004, New York death metal veterans, Internal Bleeding released Onward to Mecca with then sole original member/drummer Bill Tolley and a bunch of NYDM hired guns. However, Bill was tragically killed in 2017 while performing his job as a New York firefighter. So now, in a case of history repeating itself,  original member Chris Pervelis who came back for 2014s Imperium, has released an album with yet another cast of hired new, young guns, and a surprising old guest appearance honoring their fallen brother.

Internal Bleeding, like fellow New Yorkers Dehumanized and  Pyrexia, was a respected but never groundbreaking act and were always just a slight second fiddle to Dying Fetus and Suffocation, but released solid material and one could argue they helped shape the original ‘slam’ movement. And that has not changed with album number 6, the socially charged, tragedy-tinged Corrupting Influence. 

The recipe is as simple as it’s been for 2 decades: Purely east coast, groove driven, hardcore laced, slamming, bro-down, tough guy death metal. The 9 songs,, all render 3-4 minutes of machismo stomp, simple blasts and gruff shouts and growls that has elements of all their east coast peers and brethren both old and new.

From opener “Compelled to Consume”  through to the somber closer “The Supreme Sacrifice”, the album makes no bones about its roots and sound, so don’t go looking for anything too challenging. But what you do get is some enjoyable, perfect workout music and  neck snapping moments such as “Fatal Dependency”, “Focus”, “Final Justice” (a  track written and released righ before Tolley’s death), and two personal favorites, “Surrounded From the Inside”, and “Litany of Insincerity” which features Teethofthedivine’s own Frank Rini ( who was Internal Bleeding’s vocalist from 1993-1997) delivering a monstrous bellow and closing vocal stanza.

While the pall of Tolley’s death hovers over the album, the band and this release is celebrating his life with an appropriate style and sound that only New Yorker’s can do.

“Anytime Baby!”

[Visit the band's website]

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