‘They refuse to see what’s hidden behind each number, Knowing it hides a tragedy, It stops our hearts, It empties our souls, The machine is on’ (Numbering Machine)

Blurred Visions is a story of the world we have built.  One in which we have allowed the forces of capital to become society’s guiding light.  A society that knows the cost of everything, but the value of nothing, mired in technocratic self-delusion.  It has inevitably led to entrenched inequality and an ever-growing insecurity.  The alienation becomes ever more powerful.  An alienation that political opportunists are only too willing to exploit at the expense of those least to blame with glib solutions and barely disguised bigotry.

Bleakness, who share a member with Deletär, continue to hone a dark blend of melancholic post-punk and driving death rock, with a keen eye for theatre and a bristling hardcore energy.  This is the band’s fourth album, and their first since 2022’s Life At A Standstill.  While each of those fundamentals remains abundantly evident, there has also been a shift in gear.  Blurred Visions feels bolder, and even more dramatic, without losing the rich detailing that has always defined the French trio’s music.

The hoarsely compelling vocals remain front and centre, cleanly sung, darkly baritone, and straining with an impassioned defiance.  A brightly chiming yet elegiac melodicism infuses the guitars, as the rhythm section injects a notably limber bounce.   The tautly crafted Artificial Answers, the gothic shrouded Dead Of Night, the darkly contagious Spinning Around, and the plaintive fury of Numbering Machine each vividly capture the bleakly realised atmosphere.

Yet amid the darkness, there is a powerful seam of hope riven through the album.  It burns with a recognition of the importance of maintaining personal connections in our daily lives and, as we endure ‘a competition between the bad and the worse’, of not surrendering our knowledge that an alternative way is possible.