Black Breath | ‘Razor To Oblivion’

There’s such a melting pot of influences in here that it’s hard to be arsed disecting it. It’s hard to know where this band are coming from, and equally doubtful that they do either; it’s ersatz scuzz drawing on a bunch of things that traditionally didnt know each other. So the best policy’s just to have a few drinks and enjoy it.

The sounds are D-beat, Motorhead, early 90s swedish death metal, punk, Celtic Frost, and basically everything else stinky that you can think of. It’s fast, hard and dirty for the most part, until you get to closer ‘Murder’ which could easily be Entombed of the latter era. Who had probably absorbed all the above influences by then anyhow. You figure it out.

To further confuse, the artwork looks decidedly NWOBHM as well, which nothing on here sounds like. In fact the only thing the two have in common is that both probably kill on vinyl.

The first track sounds like Zeke only with a more debauched howl at the front. ‘Fatal Error’ has a bit more metal and less hardcore about it, reminding of Dismember, ’cause of that saturated guitar gunge. Is Disfear maybe the common point of reference? Probably.

All the above should be telling what you need to know by now anyway. Maybe it’s because they’re from Seattle and have only been around since yesterday that it’s a confusing mix, but that’s not to say it still wont kick your fuck in.

Heavy, fast, ungainly and unpolished, I’d say the fat drummer from Zeke probably listens to this as he’s eating his pork rinds on the tour bus. A better discription I cant really think of at this instant, and yet it’s one that persists in the mind.  Punk, metal, hardcore, whatever. They’re mixing it and it’s decent.  Urgh!

3.4 / 5 - Earl Grey ::: 26/12/09