An Interview with Bloodlines: On Theology, Authenticity, and “Holiness Cries.”

Hailing from Texas, Bloodlines is a five piece metalcore band, passionate about their faith and utilizing scripture in their songs, while throwing down some brutal breakdowns. Signed to Facedown Records, they released their first EP, Hevel, in 2021 which featured collaborations with Brook Reeves from Impending Doom on the song, “Devil.” Their impressive sophmore EP, Holiness Cries, was released in 2024 on Facedown Records. 

However, Bloodlines gained controversial attention after a clip of a live performance of the song “Holiness Cries” went viral. Several metal media outlets picked up on the mosh call "Pornography will not take a hold of you,” and mocked it extensively, causing an uproar online.  We had the opportunity to sit down with the band at this year’s Uprise Festival and discuss the response to “Holiness Cries,” as well as life on the road and the heart behind their music.

Bloodlines is:

Alexis Rodriguez: Vocals

Daniel Camacho: Guitar

Aldo Mayorga: Guitar

Danny Vitola: Bass

Matthew Benavides: Drums

Solid Rock Unplugged: Last year, you guys released “Holiness Cries.” A clip went viral where you guys said “Pornography will not have a hold on you.” Were you guys surprised by the response?

Aldo: 100%, yeah. It definitely was. I think that Alexis just posted that just because.

Matt: We needed content or something! It was just a clip that we put up. We put up a lot of stuff pretty regularly. For some reason, it just took off! I think it’s the message in it that really caught people’s ear and it definitely caught the ear of those in the secular and also the Christian world. So I think that’s why it really blew up. It kind of got both worlds and they both caught wind of it. 

Alexis: Yeah, we definitely didn’t think it was going to explode that much. That night was very special. The show was in Fort Worth. Man, the presence of the Lord was there from the beginning. I believe when Broken Reign was playing there, we were all just connected. We were excited to play this new song. That call out wasn’t anything I planned or anything. It was just the message of the song in a line. I said it, whatever. 

We had that video and it would be cool if we could just post something up. I usually do all the postings. If there’s a cool video I have on my phone, I just post it up to have content. You know, band stuff. I did not think the reaction, that it was going to enter the secular market. I thought it was going to get as far as our fans. This is for our fans, whatever. But Tiktok works in mysterious ways and the social media game is different now. 

A lot of people did receive from that song, from the message of the song and could relate to it. Something they’ve gone through. Something we’ve gone through, and we’ve talked about it. That’s how the song came to life. The only thing that was expected, when we started seeing and reading all the negative stuff, it’s expected from the world, that reaction to that. I believe Daniel said, when we’re sharing, it’s a weapon the enemy uses. And it’s one of it’s strongest weapons. To this day, you can’t open social media without having some content like that. That’s how it happened.

Solid Rock Unplugged: I remember getting into a little back and forth conversation with somebody online. And I’m like “This is a great song by a great band!” And he’s like “Oh, they’re mediocre.” I was like, “Alright, whatever,” and then he called me a white nationalist!

Danny: You’re a white nationalist because you think porn is bad!

Alexis: You should have told him it was created by a Mexican dude!

Matt: We considered it a great honor to be reviled by the world. We were extremely honored to share in just a small working way with the sufferings of Christ. It wasn’t as bad as we’ve seen in the majority of the world. They face severe persecution in ways that we don’t understand and we don’t see. But to get to share even the slightest in the sufferings of Christ was a high honor.

Solid Rock Unplugged: So, the process for writing that song, as well as the rest of the album. How did that come about?

Alexis: We just came with the topic. It was heavy in our hearts of how pornography has taken, even in ministry. One of the secret sins is lust and stuff like that. We’ve got to be honest with ourselves. It is! And we see it, even in the Catholic church and the Protestant church. It runs in worship teams. That’s the truth, ask around! That’s something that people deal with. They’re taught, don’t drink, don’t do that. But the secret sin, it’s that.

It’s a topic that we related to, we could relate to it. Because we got exposed to it at an early age too. It’s something heavy that we deal with. Mostly it came by because Matthew was getting married. I’m married too, and we shared with our wives, “Is this an issue? Does it run through girls too?” Absolutely. You’d be in shock that women take pleasure in looking at this stuff too and they’re victims of this stuff as well. 

So the topic was there. It wasn’t mostly “Oh, it’s a tactic.” You’ve never heard a song about this before. Truely, the Holy Spirit wanted that song to be written. And we brought it to the plate. The lyrics came about. The music came about.

Solid Rock Unplugged: I remember from a preview interview with Kingdom Core, that you guys really want scripture and theology to be present in your songs. Why do you feel that it’s so important to have these elements present?

Aldo: I think it’s because the words of God are light and life. Society as a whole seems to be lacking in scriptural knowledge. There’s so much help readily available from God’s Word. I believe that it is the most important thing that we could ever hear. So for me, having Scripture and just talking about God, theology. Having that present in our lyrics truly positions us to give all the glory to God. It binds us to His very Word. We claim to be a Christian band. So I believe that the only way to prove that, to test that, is if we’re saying God’s words.

Matt: Then you get crowds of people speaking Scripture over themselves. It’s part of the lyrics of the song. You hear all those people screaming “For I can do all things through Christ.” 

Alexis: That carries more meaning than whatever gibberish word or, “I’m going through this, so I’m going to use it as a slogan.” Instead of using actual Scripture and stuff. There’s power when you confess and you declare that with your own mouth. There’s breakthrough. Even if you aren’t seeking it. These are the words of the Lord and He’ll come and meet you.

Solid Rock Unplugged: When you guys put together your tours, what are your thoughts about touring with Christian bands vs touring with secular bands?

Aldo: Honestly, it’s very easy to get kind of pigeon-holed into just doing Christian stuff with Christian bands. It’s just really natural, you know, because we are a Christian band. A lot of our friends, a lot of our fans, and a lot of the bands we play with, they’re our friends! So it’s easy to tour with them. That’s the easy thing to do. 

But I’ll tell you, that was never really our goal. Our main goal, and this is something that we’re still figuring out ourselves, was that we always wanted to tour with secular bands and be a part of their world. Because we’re called to reach the world. It’s fun to be with our Christian brothers. It’s been amazing to do all the tours that we’ve done with our label mates and other Christian bands. It’s amazing. God moves and it’s been powerful. 

But I feel like there’s still a part of something that we’re doing that’s missing, you know? My dream is to tour with the band that people would probably not expect us to tour with. At the same time, to me, I feel like that would be the most effective thing that we could do. Again, it’s great to be with people that love us. It kind of goes back to the first question about the “Holiness Cries” video. We’ve always wanted to reach the world. The world isn’t just the Christian bubble we live in. The world is everyone that is Christian and non-Christian. 

For us, we’re most effective when we’re reaching those that don’t know Jesus. And that maybe have never gone to church, or have completely walked away. So when we do tours, I try to see if there’s any opportunity to do that. Where we can kind of step away from the Christian stuff. Not for a long time, but even if just for an opportunity to tour with a band that people never think that we would tour with. 

I mean, if you think about For Today, they toured with Thy Art Is Murder and Motionless in White. Those guys, they all toured and played together. I thought that was so amazing, how crazy that those two worlds could come together. It’s possible! I feel like that’s what we should be doing in some way. Again, it’s not to downplay any of the Christian stuff we do. We love it. That’s our bread and butter. But I feel like we’re most effective when we’re doing something else that people are probably like “Oh man, Bloodlines is going out with who?” I would love to do something like that.

Solid Rock Unplugged: To expound upon that, being an outspoken band, what’s it like sharing the stage with bands that don’t share that sentiment?

Aldo: Honestly, I hope this doesn’t sound too pretentious, but it’s natural for us. We live this life. This isn’t just a performance, something we do on stage because we feel like we should do it. We do this. This is what we live every day, every time we worship individually. This is just a natural part of who we are as people. Not as a band, as individuals. I think they see that too. 

Danny: They realize that we’re not just putting the Christian label on so we could try to hit a certain market and make money. They see “Oh no, these guys, they actually believe what they say.” So even if they don’t agree with it, I’ve seen that most of them still respect us for it. Because they see how genuine we are. 

Alexis: Me and Aldo had this conversation in the last show. On our way to the last show, we had an 8 hour drive or so. I mentioned to him how the day before that drive, I was feeling convicted. Because in my mind, I was like, “Maybe I should tone it down a little bit for this show. Because we’re not headlining. We’re the only Christian band in there.” But I got super convicted, because that’s not who we are. That’s not what the Lord wants us to do. 

It’s not anything about the performance, it’s just who we are when we’re worshipping Him. So none of that has to be excluded anywhere. Whether we’re playing a Christian festival, whether we’re playing non-secular bands out there. We’ve just got to come back to the root of it. It’s just worshipping the Father. 

Matt: I think, though we are not church leadership, the Bible does command that leaders would be of good report, even among outsiders. Like Aldo says, this comes naturally to us. We are completely engulfed by following Jesus. Our entire lives, every single one of us, is marked by discipleship under Christ. We love to love people. We love to smile and laugh and make friends. Really just put love into action and lock arms even with those in the world. How can the world know the love of Jesus if Christians don’t actually show that?

Solid Rock Unplugged: So, it’s been a year since Holiness Cries EP came out. Are we going to get that first full length album? Or another EP?

Alexis: Yeah, we are in the process of writing a new full length, for sure. The writing process has started. Hopefully next month we’ll start actually recording a couple songs here and there. Our goal is by the end of the year, we’ll have at least a single out. New music is coming for sure, under Facedown [Records].

Solid Rock Unplugged: Is there anything else you guys want to promote or discuss?

Matt: New record next year. Yeah, I think that’s the only thing right now.

Alexis: Keep praying, read your Bible. 

Matt: Aside from the band stuff, keep seeking the Lord. Keep reading His word. 

Daniel: Be intentional in the time that you spend with Him.

Check out what Bloodlines is up to by following them on Instagram, Facebook, or Spotify! Bloodlines is in the studio now, so be on the lookout for new music in 2026!