vBoogieman Rock and Metal News

A few years back, I heard my first Crossover band (Municipal Waste), and have been looking for other bands that partake in the Crossover revolution like they do, but I really haven’t come across many. Recently, I received some material from a band that has not the same sound [as Municipal Waste], but something similar, while strapping on a set of  Thrash/Death-Ass-Kicking boots! Black Breath really took me by surprise with their album, Heavy Breathing.

Hailing from Seattle, Black Breath hasn’t been around for very long in the metal scene, nor have they put out more than one full length album (Heavy Breathing being it), but they have hit hard with this one, leaving a sweet twinge in the back of my head where the sound waves are jacking up my brain! A good portion of the tracks go back and forth between different styles, but all of them seem to include a smattering of Thrash, Death, and Crossover. Songs like “Virus” start out with a Thrash riff that will set any headbangers loins on fire, but include some Death in there as well. Then you have “Escape from Death” which starts out with a Death riff, and mixes some Thrash in there as well. One of the odd-ball tracks that the band seem to have stuck on there, is “Unholy Virgin” which came off the line sounding like straight-up Southern Rock, and continued into a heavy version of a song that could have been written by Stevie Ray Vaughn or something. This was kind of a refreshing sound in the album, but seem to come out of nowhere, and you never heard it again on the album. Altogether, there’s definitely a punk-ish sound in all of the tracks, which kick into the Crossover sound. Even the lead singer sounds like he came straight from Punk band-practice. Not that this is a bad thing!

For Black Breath’s first sound-off into the metal community, they did a very upstanding job. I still see some more good work to come from them in the future, and I hope they have some luck making more good albums with their label, Southern Lord. Their sound and approach to the scene are a welcome reprieve to the same old.

VERY GOOD

Similar Artists: Municipal Waste, As I Lay Dying, Kreator

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

J. Byrum – Drums
Nate McAdams – Vocals
F. Funds – Guitar
Elijah Nelson – Bass
E. Wallace – Guitar

Southern Lord Records

http://www.myspace.com/blackbreath

Review by TONY

Seattle’s Black Breath have stormed the scene with their uncompromising energy and infectious brutality. The band has played heavily alongside Nachtmystium, The Accüsed, Victims, Trap Them and tons more across the US through 2009, and in November Southern Lord released the first recordings from the young act in the form of the potent Razor to Oblivion EP, creating a deafening buzz immediately.

The next logical step of course; a full-length Black Death release. They traveled to the opposite coast, shacking up at Kurt Ballou’s God City Studios (Converge, Trap Them, Disfear) to create the 10-track jaw-dropper dubbed Heavy Breathing, due out March 30th on Southern Lord. The massive album picks up where Razor… EP left off, infusing the band’s rabid punk, metal and hardcore influences to create truly memorable hooks and buildups, yet incorporating more death metal  influences this time around. The more brutal, metallic direction of Heavy Breathing is like a fired-up blend of Poison Idea on a whiskey-soaked Dismember bender…

A top label priority for 2010, Black Breath will assault the masses on a major scale this year, touring constantly. The next major offensive has been planned, as the band will hit the road in May alongside Converge, with contributions from Gaza, Coalesce, Lewd Acts, Harvey Milk and more.

BLACK BREATH with Converge on all shows:
05/072010 Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH w/ Lewd Acts
5/08/2010 Magic Stick – Detroit, MI w/ Lewd Acts
5/09/2010 Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL w/ Lewd Acts
5/10/2010 Bottleneck – Lawrence, KS w/ Coalesce, Lewd Acts
5/11/2010 Marquis Theatre – Denver, CO w/ Coalesce, Lewd Acts
5/13/2010 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA w/ Coalesce, Lewd Acts
5/14/2010 Satyricon – Portland, OR w/ Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/15/2010 Slim’s – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s w/ Coalesce, Lewd Acts
5/16/2010 *TBA – CA
5/17/2010 Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA w/ Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/18/2010 El Rey Theatre – Los Angeles, CA w/ Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/19/2010 The Clubhouse – Tempe, AZ w/ Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/21/2010 Emo’s – Austin, TX w/ Coalesce, Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/22/2010 *TBA – TX
5/23/2010 The Marquee – Tulsa, OK w/ Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/25/2010 The Hi Tone – Memphis, TN w/ Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/26/2010 *TBA – Louisville, KY w/ Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/27/2010 Rockettown – Nashville, TN w/ Harvey Milk, Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/28/2010 The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA w/ Harvey Milk, Gaza, Lewd Acts
5/29/2010 *TBA – North Carolina w/ Harvey Milk, Gaza, Lewd Acts

http://www.myspace.com/blackbreath

Seattle’s BLACK BREATH have stormed the scene with their uncompromising energy and infectious brutality.