BLACK BREATH - The Reverence Hotel, 11 April 2013
I've been a fan
of the Seattle five-piece's d-beat/crust-infused death metal for a
little while now, and they did not disappoint live. Black Breath's vibe
is decidedly old-school - ceiling-scraping Marshall stacks, two bass
drums, as well as the fact the band are bunch of hair farmers from
way-back - and their delivery is polished as fuck. I have not seen a
band this tight in a while, and the way they casually ripped through
material from both of their full-lengths was breathtaking - by which I
mean the singer had barely a moment to take a breath between onslaughts!
Opener "Endless Corpse" from latest LP Sentenced To Life set the
stage for what was to come, namely a flawlessly executed set. Their
command of the classic Entombed buzzsaw guitar sound is a mighty thing
on record, but the two guitarists took it to another level live: the
result was some utterly crushing riffage, and the leads venture into the
more melodic end of the spectrum, like those Swedish bands from back in
the day. Vocalist Neil McAdams possesses a monstrous roar, and a great
stage presence - though his voice seemed to be flagging a bit by the
set's end, possibly because the guy has been giving it his all over
their Australian tour, so it's not a critique, just an observation! And
let's not forget the quality of the songs - "I Am Beyond", "Escape From
Death", "Black Sin (Spit On The Cross)" - these guys have riffs with
hooks, and in no way is that a bad thing! The drummer was on form
throughout, alternating between rapid-fire blasts to the more mid-tempo
material with aplomb. The band were clearly stoked to be here, and finished the night with a mighty version of "Wewhocannotbenamed' from Heavy Breathing. All in all, a great show. All hail the new wave of crusty death metal!
Photo: HEAVYMETALFACE
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This blog has been inactive for a little while now, so I have taken it upon myself to restart it. Expect much more content! This time I mean it! \m/
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