Band: Breathe//Die
Album: Self-titled
Genre: Deathgrind/Hardcore
Country: Germany
Release Date: 20th of August, 2020
Released via: Colossus Tapes
Cover Artwork: © Breathe//Die
There is a new violent band from the capital Moloch Berlin, which you should not close your mind to as a fan of fast and above all hard music. Breathe//Die have made a strong first impression on me with their self-titled debut and have earned themselves a permanent place in my playlist since my discovery. This is no surprise, though, if you take a closer look at the trio’s line-up, which includes members of ex-Henry Fonda and Hatehug. The plan seems to be simple – mixing bitterly evil Deathgrind with rough Hardcore Punk elements and the result ignites in every corner.
Breathe//Die start on their debut without hesitation and take no prisoners. You directly feel as if a bucket of vomit is poured over your head, which is filled with fulminant blastbeats, shredding riffing and disgustingly nagging screams and has been shaken up decently. The vocals also show themselves from different sides during the course of the record and also give a blunt roar as you know it from various Powerviolence combos. This variety pays off in the long run and gives the instrumentals a strong foundation.
The drums are beaten to the max and besides blastbeats I especially like the use of snare and cymbals, which always come to the fore and make use of classic grindcore elements. A clear highlight for me is the creative guitar playing, which, besides ultra-fast HM2 parts, occasionally drifts into the mathcore area without sounding confusingly chaotic. Otherwise the guitar uses some noisy feedback and delivers the catchy melody, which rounds off the whole thing.
The sound is already very professional and well thought-out, the trio knows exactly how they want to sound and where they want to go. Recording, mixing and mastering also seems to have been done by capable people who know exactly how to implement the philosophy of the band and how to get the last sparks out of Breathe//Die without letting the songs slip into plasticity. High praise at this point, because what comes thundering out of the boxes here has really kicked ass and should wipe away the last doubts that you can expect a lot from the Berliners in the near future.
Breathe//Die continue the long list of brutal sounding Berlin bands and convince on their 11 songs especially with distinctive vocals and versatile guitar playing, while there is still some room for improvement in the songwriting. But for a first record the Self-Titled EP can definitely take credit, because for Grindcore fans of all colours the sound will be decent fodder, which you will want to spoon in again and again and which will still taste as good after ten runs as it did at the first one.
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