Well this certainly showed up at the right time. I just had to pay the mortgage, car insurance and 2009 taxes all in the same week. They’re necessary expenses but when they hit at once it’s a real drag. Then some douchebag cop pulled me over for no good reason and gave me a bunch of shit. I was pissed! It never pays off to get lippy with a jerk with a badge and a gun. That’s when Black Breath’s new album Heavy Breathing comes in handy. This is some pissed off, heavy punk rock that they stopped making about 25 years ago. Heavy like Poison Idea, pissed off like Discharge and punk rock like Hellhammer.Black Breath are a crew of 5 troubled youths from Seattle and Heavy Breathing is their full length debut album. It’s 40 minutes of unrepentant middle finger towards the preachers, parents and politicians who ridicule our wild ambition. Trendy young people probably refer to this music as “d-beat,” whatever that is, but in reality it’s just some tight, kick ass punk rock with metal overtones. Fans of vintage Motorhead, GBH, Broken Bones, etc will shed tears of joy all as they pull the tongues of their vintage white Avia high tops up to cover the bottom of their ripped black jeans.
Two years ago, Sweden’s Disfear put out a great album called Live The Storm that was ruined by in the red mixes that were mastered way too hot. The result was an album that I should blast almost daily but cannot get past a song or 2 because of the lame modern trend of recording music to get your attention when your ipod is on shuffle. My stereo has a volume knob. I know how to turn it up. If I want it to sound like a crappy cassette playing on a cranked boombox I’ll make that decision. Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou was responsible for the Disfear album and he also recorded Heavy Breathing. Thankfully, this album doesn’t suffer from the same problem.
The majority of the songs here are fast as hell with tight riffing, killer bass sound, frenzied drum beats and guttural screaming. “Black Sin (Spit On The Cross),” “Eat The Witch” and most of the others are total scorchers. “I Am Beyond” is pure pounding headbanging delight and “Unholy Virgin” is slower and weirder, which makes for a nice contrast.
These kids are onto something and if you don’t like, eat a bag of dicks, flat foot.
--Woody
Buy here: Heavy Breathing
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