Crossfade
We All Bleed

One year.

A long, long, endless year. That's how long I've been waiting for this album to come out. But let's start in order: first of all, who are Crossfade? Answer: one of the many American bands following the more melodic post-Nirvana Grunge trend (to be clear, the genre of Staind, Nickelback, Chevelle, and who knows how many other bands).

The first thing to say is this: ever since Cobain died, Grunge offerings have always been the same. Even when Nirvana was playing, it wasn't a very varied genre; however, at least, they brought something new to the table. Since the mid-'90s, the trivialization of Grunge has reached a new peak. However, despite the presence of bands playing truly terrible songs because of their banality and monotony (like repetitive groups to the point of exhaustion, such as Nickelback or Staind), there are also those who play enjoyable things, like Chevelle or 10 Years (at least, the latter in their debut album).

And then there's them. The Crossfade.

The history of this band is very troubled. They formed in the early 2000s, and initially, the band consisted of 4 members: Ed Sloan (guitar and lead vocals), Tony Byroads (DJ and backing vocals), Mitchell James (bass and accompaniment vocals), and Brian Geiger (drums).

In 2004, they released their first album, the self-titled "Crossfade," which, thanks also to the success of the first single, Cold, reached Platinum status in the USA. Everything was going well until 2005; then, suddenly, the DJ left them. The band attempted to record an album without him, "Falling Away," which was released in 2006; sales were poor, and critics and fans severely panned it, and in 2008 their record label, Columbia, dropped them. The group disbanded.

Ed Sloan, the singer, fell into a state of deep depression and became a drug addict. Then, after a really dark period for him, he met guitarist Les Hall, who finally managed to get him back on the path of music. Sloan quit cocaine and devoted himself to guitar. The reunited group now consists of 4 members again: Ed Sloan (guitar and vocals), Les Hall (guitar, keyboard, and backing vocals), Mitchell James (bass and third vocals), and Will Hunt (drums).

This was followed by two years of intense work, where the band wrote extensively and experimented with music. June 2010: the first single, Killing Me Inside, was released; the album was announced for October 12, 2010. A week later, it was postponed to October 26, 2010, then delayed again to January 1, 2011, and then to January 21, 2011. Suddenly, Will Hunt left the group, and nothing was heard until the end of January, when the band finally found a replacement on drums: the talented Mark Castillo.

The album was announced for April 12, 2011, but once again the band didn't keep their promise, delaying it to April 26, 2011, then to June 1, 2011, and finally to June 21, 2011. And finally, no more delays. The album is out, folks.

WE ALL BLEED.

Aaaah, damn! What a satisfaction to be able to press play and listen to all ten songs, finally in sequence! No more demos, no more Webisodes (the videos with which the band kept fans updated while waiting). And I must say it was really worth the long wait.

"We All Bleed" is a concept album that narrates the dark period Sloan went through. The sound has significantly intensified, as one can immediately tell from the first notes of the opener Dead Memories, where a furious Ed Sloan indulges in some vocal excesses he had not allowed himself before. The song introduces us to the anger and frustration he felt inside; the lyrics are very direct, telling us that he will no longer be a good guy but will find a way to throw his life away, obviously referring to the period of mental turmoil he experienced.

Killing Me Inside, the first single, is also very beautiful, featuring a chorus composed only of the words "Killing me inside," which, however, manages to be surprising due to a particularly captivating melody; the singer tells us how all his dreams were killing him inside. The fiercely frustrated Prove You Wrong is excellent, starting with the electronic sounds of Les's keyboard and then exploding into a less straightforward chorus than expected, leading to a furious crescendo finale. Our Ed is convinced that he will prove those who hated him for the disastrous "Falling Away" were wrong.

With the sad final notes of a piano, the introspective and tormented Lay Me Down concludes, closing the heavier and also more easy-listening chapter of the album (ah, English terms really make me feel cool), and opening a much darker and a bit softer part. It starts with the acoustic ballad Dear Cocaine, less banal than expected, thanks to a superb emotional performance by Ed Sloan; it continues with the dark and haunting Suffocate, the darkest song the band has ever written, beginning with a whispered and calm verse and then exploding into a shouted and anguished chorus; this part concludes with another acoustic ballad, I Think You Should Know. The song is addressed to critics and former fans who heavily criticized the album "Falling Away"; it starts calm and sad, then builds up to a desperate cry for help in a truly goosebump-inducing finale.

Then we reach the title track, We All Bleed, a song that follows the style of Suffocate but reaches an even higher level of anger, culminating in a furious finale where the singer once again rants against those who hated and criticized him for the lack of composition in Falling Away. And here we enter the most positive chapter of the entire full-length, with the liberating Open Up Your Eyes, which pleasantly surprised me as I was expecting another ballad, but it turned out to be a rather fast-paced and aggressive song.

And the finale is like fireworks: we find the long Make Me A Believer, a 10-minute bombardment of hope, where Sloan narrates how Les helped him overcome difficulties; the compositional level is so high that this song alone would be enough to surpass both previous albums. And we're not talking about a Prog Rock song full of solos and technicalities with zero emotion. Crossfade managed to create a track that captivates from start to finish, from the first to the last note.

10 songs. 48 minutes. "We All Bleed." One of the best albums of 2011.