March 22, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

Seattle’s Black Breath is back with its first full-length after the Razor to Oblivion EP, further proving that Seattle can be known for more than just grunge and rainy weather. Joining the ranks of Metal Church, Nevermore and Queensryche, Black Breath is heavy black thrash with punk influences that don’t drown the hybrid in one or the other. I thoroughly enjoyed the EP and the full-length shows the band not only advancing on its sound, but finding even more solid footing in its climb up the metal ladder.

Heavy Breathing is a fast-paced assault that is as raw as a band can get without losing the music in puddles of mud. The production is just raw enough to retain some old-school Celtic Frost feel, but also clean enough to provide an enjoyable trek through the tunes. While not exactly black metal, the combination of both classic and modern influences are abound throughout. I love it when a guitar sounds like it’s being played through an old ’70s P.A. as opposed to an amp, and while I’m sure that’s not the device used by Black Breath, the capture is appreciated and undervalued.

Once again vocalist Nate McAdams meshes some punk-influenced vocals with the familiar Tom G. Warrior rasp that has really helped mold the band’s sound. For this type of music the vocals are perfect, a sadly missed or overdone device by many of today’s young upstarts. While not exactly difficult or unique, it fits and it makes for a complementary meshing. What’s always important is the overall marriage of vocals-to-music, and sometimes it just falls flat. This certainly isn’t the case here. I really enjoy this type of vocal, especially when it’s done exactly how it needs to be done.   

The heavy trudging in tracks like “I Am Beyond” or “Black Sin (Spit On the Cross)” are ugly, ugly tracks, plain and simple. I sit and listen to this and want to grimace like an old bluesman shredding his F-chord because the tunes are heavy metal music at its finer point. Heavy being the operative word, the slow sustaining punch to the side of the head when guitarists F. Funds or E. Wallace palm mute those chords is a painfully fun way to momentarily kill your peripheral distractions. Then a track like “Children of the Horn” hits like an old Bathory tune slightly modified and the impression left is even deeper. Each track has a life of its own and causes serious head-bobbing if you’re not careful.

Overall, for stripped-down metal music on the ever-emerging Southern Lord label, Black Breath shouldn’t be missed. Consistency and resonation are the keys to any band’s survival, and this band is hitting on all cylinders.

Release Date: March 12, 2010
Label: Southern Lord Records 

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Black Breath - Heavy Breathing

1.  Black Sin
    (Spit On the Cross)
2.  Eat the Witch
3.  Escape From Death
4.  I Am Beyond
5.  Virus
6.  Heavy Breathing
7.  Children of the Horn
8.  Fallen
9.  Unholy Virgin
10.  Wewhocannotbenamed