I simply speak up b/c gyms are full of people who make absolutely no progress in terms of hypertrophy. You've made some amazing progress and look phenomenal. Many people would be content maintaining what you have right now, don't get me wrong. If you caught the 'bug' though and want to make continual and appreciable changes, bulking right is critical.
And adding a couple of inches of muscle here and there isn't going to be accomplished with a constant fear of gaining fat.
Most people coming from your position are afraid of bulking simply b/c the fat gain. But eating too little in an effort to minimize fat gain at the expense of optimal hypertrophy given your genetics and starting point is real bad too. As I stated above, spend a few years in the gyms (maybe you have) and pay attention to how many people actually change their bodies. Granted, people who lose a lot of fat always look a lot different. I'm speaking more of people in your shoes. Men who are lean and thin.
Bulk = fat gain though. Not solely, but certainly partially.
You can't gain only muscle, no matter how clean you eat or how small the caloric deficit is. People get fooled into thinking you can erase this fact by eating so little in their bulks.
Our bodies don't work like that though. For starters there's something known as the P-ratio. In simple terms this dictates how we partition our calories. When we diet it dictates how much muscle we'll lose in relation to fat and when we bulk it dictates how much fat we'll gain in relation to muscle.
This is primarily genetic. It can be swayed slightly with training and diet but the fact remains that we are coded to partition some excess calories in fat.
Certainly eating until you pop isn't the answer either! There is a limit to how fast you can add muscle which differs from person to person. Just as I've seen people bulk by eating ridiculously small amounts of food for fear of fat gain, I've seen idiots on the oppostive end of the spectrum who think they can speed upu muscle gain by eating endless amounts of food. That too is wrong and will surely lead to an accumulatoin of much more fat than necessary.
In all cases, the best bet is to try to minimize fat gains by bulking smart. Yes, you need to eat over maintenance but given the fact that you can't fast forward muscle growth, there's no need to eat way over maintenance. You want to find the sweet spot where you're seeing some weight gain, but not gaining too much fat.
And you're right... your best bet will be to take things slow at first... get a feel for how your body responds to excess calories with appropriate training. People who are dieted down from a relatively high BF% have a tendency to put fat on more easily compared to someone who is naturally lean. So slow and steady will certainly win the race in your case.
I just wanted to squash some common preconceived notions associated with bulking.
You have to eat enough to facilitate growth is my point.
We walk on the shoulders of giants, right? I'm no giant but I do have experience which I've learned from some awesome people before me as well as my own trials... so take it for what it's worth.