Breather Resist "Only in the Morning" CD
[Deathwish]
Eight generally brief blasts of discordant metalcore with lots of changes, scathing screams and sloppy spoken vocals, and zany riffing that borders on the "crazy go nuts" style without going too far overboard, granted I still find it to be a bit unoriginal and less than moving. In a lot of ways it sounds like Deadguy meets Botch (with a little bit of a darker and heavier vibe in tracks like "The Pity Party"), which isn't a bad thing, it's just that I've heard many, many bands that sound similar to this over the years, and it's rare for a band to really take the style somewhere exciting anymore. In their defense, I think the diversity and feeling expressed in tracks like the aforementioned "The Pity Party" does show that Breather Resist is on the right side of the fence with this stuff, so I'll give credit where it's due. But some of the shorter and noisier tracks, namely "The Best Mistake", are basically crap... that stuff just bores me because it's irritating and goes nowhere. I mean, I've heard all of these ascending/descending pull-off riffs a million times, and anyone can make grating textures with a loud, distorted guitar. It's when they flirt with obscure melody and get into some heavier, more developed, creative and/or powerful rhythms that they really start to impress. The production is pretty damn good. I love the plodding bass tone and the smooth flow of the drumming, the guitars are heavy and have a dirty texture, and the vocals actually sound fucking great. The screams are dry and a bit distorted, but they blend perfectly with the music and really have a lot of intensity going on. As with all of the Deathwish releases the layout here is killer. It's fairly simple as far as imagery goes, using some band photos and crisp text, but the booklet is oddly shaped with some rounded edges and diecut tabs alongside a gaping fold that opens vertically. Very interesting. The lyrics are brief and, well, they cut to the chase: "You hold on to your life like an amputee. Eat shit and diamonds. Nice fucking job. How do you fit such an ego into such a tiny head? The streets are empty. Fuck." Not bad, but I've heard better. If you're a diehard fan of the Rorschach school's modern students, you may very well love this. I just see it as a slightly better than average EP from a band that could be using their talents to kick ass instead of rehashing the work of those that came before them. (6/10)
Running time - 22:08, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: The Pity Party, Pretty Like Cancer]
Deathwish Inc. - http://www.deathwishinc.com

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