Album Details

• Artist: Black Breath
• Album: Heavy Breathing
• Label: Southern Lord
• Year of Release: 2010
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2010-03-24

While I am not so quick to jump on the bandwagon and say that Black Breath will be the next Big Thing in metal, I am only doing that because they leave me partially, happily, speechless. "Heavy Breathing" is the band's first full-length, on the heels of last year's already legendary EP. This record, if anything, ups the wattage and growl of their EP, and shows the kind of inspired, subtle humor that all the best bands have. You are about to receive a smart, deeply grooved face-scraping.

With a relentless, wall of sound riffing reminiscent of (good) Ministry or Suicidal, "Black Sin (Spit On The Cross" and "Eat the Witch" kick things off at full speed. Producer Kurt Balllou (Converge, etc) keeps it raw, giving prominence to the slew of hooks that immediately suck you into almost every track. Who needs solos? The riffs are so heavy and head-splitting that they are not needed. In fact, they would ruin tracks like "I Am Beyond" or "Wewhocannotbenamed," where the hardcore rule of "speed through it, but lay waste while doing so" is followed to a T. "Fallen" and "Unholy Virgin" then, suffer from the Riff not working, being a little too plodding and kinda 80s to hit a homer.

Black Breath is coming on fast and furious. "Heavy Breathing" is a monster record, one that announces the arrival of a band that knows itself, and I'm sure is aware of the overwhelming effect it is going to have on the listener.  Plus they sound like they are having a blast doing it. Underground metal fans, keep rejoicing: your favorite music is right now one of the most exciting and real genres in Rock.

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