BLACK BREATH — Heavy Breathing (review)

BLACK BREATH — Heavy Breathing album cover Album · 2010 · Crust Punk Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Heavy Breathing" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Seattle, Washington based metal act Black Breath. The album was released through Southern Lord Records in March 2010. Black Breath was formed in 2006 and released a demo that same year before releasing the promising "Razor to Oblivion" EP in 2008. A release that screamed for a successor.

The music on "Heavy Breathing" is a combination of death, thrash and hardcore punk (which is a continuation of the style on "Razor to Oblivion"), but ultimately Black Breath can be labelled none of those. The death metal elements on the album consist of a really obvious Entombed (and in part Dismember) influence. The thrash metal influence is heard in the caustic vocal delivery (which is not growling despite the death metal influences in the music) and some really heavy and groovy mid-paced thrashy riffing. And to top of the genre confusion there are several hardcore punked D-beat rhythms and simple but effective riffing on the album too. The music is as such not very original, but it´s damn effective. The 40:13 minutes long album is an exhausting experience (which in this case is positive). Relentless aggressive energy, and an ear for simple yet effective songwriting. "Heavy Breathing" is not one-dimensional though, which a track like the instrumental title track ensures. There´s a good balance between the faster aggressive parts and the mid-paced heavy parts all the way through the album and that ensures some variation too.

The sound production is crushing. Raw and filthy but not lo-fi. When the band strike the old school Swedish death metal vein, it´s impossible not to think of the good old Sunlight Studio.

"Heavy Breathing" is every bit as great as I had hoped for and effectively develops on the sound that was initiated on the "Razor to Oblivion" EP. The album is raw, filthy, mean, and aggressive death´n´roll/crossover thrash, delivered with a fierce energy and tons of conviction. A big 4 star (80%) rating is well deserved.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rot Stink Rip Death Metal
TOMBSTONER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Human Rosin Melodic Metalcore
HATE BREEDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Through The Hell Hardcore Punk
ENEMY 906
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lightmatter: Rebirth Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Eye Of Horus (Lightmatter EP Pt. 2) Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 5 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 6 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed