Black Breath
Slaves Beyond Death


2.5
average

Review

by Chamberbelain USER (214 Reviews)
December 6th, 2015 | 33 replies


Release Date: 2015 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Too Much Of A Good Thing Can Make You Sick

In 2010 the caged beast that is Black Breath escaped from the clutches of conformity and unleashed hell upon its captors. The tyrannical tirade of throat tearing hardcore and abrasive Scandinavian melodies took them to the front and centre of Entombed-esque bands during the release of their sophomore album ‘Sentenced To Life’. It captured the raw dominative performance of a live show while not threatening the overall precision of their music making. Can “Slaves Beyond Death” even live up to these towering expectations?

For the most part... yes is the answer. Kurt Ballou’s (Converge) production skills are indeed on point as usual. Mark Palm’s and Eric Wallace’s trembling guitars are usually at the forefront of the songs and are not lost amongst the throaty growls that Neil McAdams echoes across the album. The problem with ‘Slaves Beyond Death’ is the actual content itself. The songs feel bloated with too many different dynamics or extended features. Take the first song, ‘Pleasure, Pain, Disease’. It has a slower death metal tone to it but Jamie Byrum just sounds like a bored Dave Lombardo. Whereas ‘Feast Of The Damned’ (the first track on their previous album) was absolutely breathless and set a consistent tone of fury to the rest of the album it belonged to, ‘Pleasure, Pain, Disease’ may put fans in a state of unease due to its languid nature. But surely the whirlwind of thrashy riffs will follow right?

Wrong. During the album you come to accept that Black Breath are pushing their experimental boundaries. Instead of fusing the new sludgy mannerisms to the furious dynamics they mastered in 2012, they’ve replaced the latter with the former and unfortunately that produces side effects of boredom and bloating. The staccato chugs in ‘A Place Of Insane Brutality’ and ‘Burning Hate ’are present to create a dominant tone but after a while the same chugs begin to sound monotonous. In a stoner or doom band this would be an effective feature however it’s lost on the chaotic Black Breath; patience is not their virtue. The instrumental closer ‘Chains Of The Afterlife’ also suffers from a stretched duration. What is the point in a near 8 minute instrumental song when you’re a band known for anarchic dynamic changes and heated vocals? There is no point, which is the exact portrayal this song demonstrates. There are bountiful amounts of melodies and emotional solos but it’s surplus and, overall, doesn’t establish a conclusion to the album in any way.

Do not despair though! McAdams’ vocals remain the most consistent thing about “Slaves Beyond Death”, especially on ‘Reaping Flesh’ where his howls are both agonizing when affronted with a fast pace and intimidating in a slow passage. Black Breath also still illustrates their adrenaline rush of furious dynamic changes. Half way through the title track the song abandons the slow sludge influences and leads to a battering of explosive solos and rapid blast beats. ‘Arc Of Violence’ follows the same structure and what was a lethargic riff is cracked by a squealing solo that exposes a frantic and energised Black Breath.

“Slaves Beyond Death” is effectively like taking a placebo pill for rage. It does what it’s supposed to do but it's only temporary and is simply nowhere near the level of raw potency that “Sentenced To Life” continues to boast.



Recent reviews by this author
Brutus (BE) Unison LifeFool's Ghost Dark Woven Light
Sunn O))) Life MetalRaised By Owls Dreadful
Brutus (BE) NestLouise Lemón A Broken Heart is an Open Heart
user ratings (145)
3.5
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
someguest
December 6th 2015


30126 Comments


"One of my favorite bands changed styles! Wah!"

We get it dude, you like breakdowns.

SpiritCrusher2
December 6th 2015


6363 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

"recommended by reviewer

Slayer Diabolus In Musica

Trap Them Blissfucker

Kvelertak Kvelertak

Converge You Fail Me"



wtf?

impoppy
December 6th 2015


2250 Comments


Not really that strange of recs. Black Breath is typically a mix of thrash and that whole crusty side of things Trap Them and Converge fall into.

Anyways, yeah, them taking it so mid-tempo and passive was definitely a switch up I didn't enjoy as much as their last 2 albums. Still listenable, but not something I'm gonna play over and over again.

SpiritCrusher2
December 6th 2015


6363 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

yea but diabolus sucks, blissfucker is by far trap them's worst album and kvelertak just doesn't make any sense in this context lol. I thought recommendations were supposed to be great albums in a similar vein of the reviewed album, not just one of those two categories.

Hawks
December 6th 2015


87268 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I need to hear this.

SpiritCrusher2
December 6th 2015


6363 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

first two songs on this destroy m/

icatchthirtythree
December 7th 2015


1149 Comments


I thought this was pretty dope, some songs are bit long though

alienobserver
December 7th 2015


4499 Comments


this was awful

Hawks
December 7th 2015


87268 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Lol there's no chance that this is a 1.

BigPleb
December 7th 2015


65784 Comments


Album is p cool but yeah, tedious song lengths at times.

ZippaThaRippa
December 7th 2015


10671 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I'm not going to lie I hated this album when I listened to it the first couple of times. Now it's easily my favorite Black Breath album. Burning Hate is an appallingly awful song but there are some hard jams on this record.

ZippaThaRippa
December 7th 2015


10671 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Noticed a mistake within both your review and the album's track listing. The song is "Place of Insane Cruelty" is mislabeled as "Place of Insane Brutality"

Nikkolae
December 7th 2015


6630 Comments


"unfortunate that such an ill-informed review is tanking the response to this album"

the average user rating says otherwise, its not as high as with others but it is nowhere near bad

Deathconscious
December 7th 2015


27347 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

"What is the point in a near 8 minute instrumental song when you’re a band known for anarchic dynamic changes and heated vocals?"



so your argument is, "theyre known for this, so they shouldnt do anything but this." who cares what theyre known for. all that matters is that it works in context. it would be really boring if bands just kept on doing what theyre known for without changing.



that being said, i dont like their new sound as much. they used to have a very distinguished sound, this is a little more generic.

Nikkolae
December 7th 2015


6630 Comments


i think his point is that the sound and song writing structures here is so far off what they are known for doing that it doesn't fit them one bit, i can see that being a deal breaker for some fans of the band.

ZippaThaRippa
December 8th 2015


10671 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Chains of the Afterlife wasn't really a departure for Black Breath, for me it was more of a continuation of what they explored with "Obey." It's an album closer that eschews the traditional ferocity for more elaborate, melodic song structure. The album as a whole is an experiment in longer, more complex songs. Following that theme, Chains is a longer, more complex closer than Obey. And it's a great song.

Deathconscious
December 8th 2015


27347 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

yeah, it actually fits in just fine whithin the context of the album.

ZippaThaRippa
December 8th 2015


10671 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I think it's pretty fine period. I understand why people were so put off by this album considering that it's a total departure from all of their previous work but it can stand on its own as a pretty juicy death metal album. Lots of sweet crusty riffs.

ZippaThaRippa
December 8th 2015


10671 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

It has all been good!

ZippaThaRippa
December 8th 2015


10671 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Do you listen to a lot of crust?



You have to be logged in to post a comment. Login | Create a Profile





STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy