Time ‘Truth’ came out

CONSIDERING the treacherous terrain the members of Bleeding Through have navigated the past couple years -- a van crash, broken bones, the stabbing of two friends at a show, their producer taking ill -- you’d think the band travels with medics instead of roadies.

No wonder, then, that the Orange County heavy metal sextet seems imperturbable when it comes to the latest career challenge: hype.

“You just have to ignore it,” vocalist Brandan Schieppati says. “People are going to write things calling you the next big band and the next big metal band, but we’re down to earth. We know we’re not going to be Metallica.”

That doesn’t mean they won’t try. With the January release of its fourth album, “The Truth,” on independent Trustkill Records, Bleeding Through at least appears poised to join the likes of Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Mastodon in the current crop of elite metal bands.

If they make it to the next tour stop.

As Schieppati -- seated in his Corona del Mar home beneath posters of Johnny Cash, the Clash and actor Ed Norton in “American History X” -- chats about his band’s fortunes, he wraps his hand in protective padding. About six weeks ago he sustained broken ring and middle fingers while jumping on a trampoline with his 3-year-old niece. As mishaps go, that wasn’t very rock ‘n’ roll -- but don’t snicker, there’s plenty on the Bleeding Through blotter.

There was the death-defying van crash on an icy Utah highway in 2003, the video of which aired repeatedly on newscasts. There were incidents at shows -- one time, Schieppati sustained a broken bone over his left eye trying to break up a fight; another time, two friends suffered stab wounds in a scuffle with security guards at a concert.

Then, while recording “The Truth,” producer Rob Caggiano became ill with stomach parasites, raising concerns about whether the band would be able to complete its studio work. “It didn’t surprise us that there was a bump in the road to even make the record,” Schieppati says. “I just thought to myself, ‘What would a Bleeding Through experience be without a bump in the road?’ ”

But not only does Schieppati believe the band’s misfortune helped shape the group’s aggressive sound, the sextet also has truly learned to appreciate the little things.

“This record did take a lot to put out,” he says, “so when it actually was in stores and we knew that another chapter of this band was going to start, it was amazing.”

BUILDING on the promise of 2003’s “This Is Love, This Is Murderous” -- which sold 114,000 copies -- “The Truth” features a blend of influences as disparate as Pantera (with its guttural vocals and ferocious intensity) and Morrissey (a biography of the former Smiths frontman is prominently displayed on the singer’s coffee table). Such diversity helps the album transcend the band’s metal-core label, especially on the hook-laden chorus of “Love in Slow Motion” and the ballad “Line in the Sand.”

The latter is a favorite of Schieppati’s because it stretches people’s preconceived notions about the group. “The most fun of playing music is playing something that is out of the ordinary,” he says. “Saying, ‘Check this out; this is what we’re capable of doing, as well.’ ”

During a recent tour of the U.K., “Line in the Sand” became a fan favorite, even as many wondered whether the band would dare to perform the ballad live for hard-core audiences.

“It’s one of my favorite songs on the record, so I want to play it live,” Schieppati says. “If a band can’t play a song live then what’s the point of even putting it on a record?”

With “The Truth” finally out there -- and off to a great start, having sold 30,000 copies in four weeks -- Schieppati is buoyed by the notion the band’s bad luck might be behind them. He and band mates Brian Leppke, Scott Danough, Ryan Wombacher, Derek Youngsma and Marta (the keyboardist who goes by only her first name) have their sights set on bigger stages.

“I would love nothing more than to stand on a stage and be playing in front of 60,000 people and know that they’re for us. I’d love to be the next Metallica,” Schieppati says. “But that’s the 12-year-old in me, watching ‘Headbangers Ball,’ going, ‘Oh, dude, one day.’ ”

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Steve Baltin may be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

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Bleeding Through

Who: Bleeding Through, with Every Time I Die, Between the Buried and Me and Haste the Day

Where: Avalon, 1735 Vine St., Hollywood

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Price: $16

Info: (323) 462-8900 or www.avalonhollywood.com