Review Summary: The Breathing Process is an unknown band looking for an audience. What kind of fans they're targeting their music to, however, is a bit sketchy.
The Breathing Process is
Ren - Bass
Ian - Guitars
John - Lead Vocals
Jordan - Guitars
Alana - Keys/Synth
Chris - Drums
In Waking: Divinity clocks in at around 34 minutes (only 8 out of the 12 are actually songs, 4 are brief instrumentals that give the illusion the cd is longer than it is) , and is a hard cd to describe. So, I’ll breakdown (pun not intended) their style. The vocalist’s default growl is a bit on the metalcore side, while he mixes in some highs and occasionally incorporates a quieter, darker style during softer moments. As a whole, they seem to complement the music well, but do become a little monotonous at times. On the closing track “The Treasonist” he incorporates surprisingly good clean vocals in the chorus, it is a shame they are not fitted into other songs, there are a few opportunities where they would’ve been beneficial.
Onto the music side, the guitars are a mixed bag of standard metal riffs and chugging, but are melodic occasionally, and even briefly technical on two songs ('Pandora‘s Rebirth', 'Prey'). None of it is particularly amazing, but I’ll give them props for having a range of styles. There are a decent dosage of breakdowns on
In Waking: Divinity , but they are not used too excessively. Next, the drumming is crisp and clean. The double bass and occasional blast beats are again, nothing mind-blowing, but are solid. Moving on to the bass… umm, yeah you can’t hear it at all. Finally, the keys/syth on the cd. They give off a consistently eerie atmosphere, and add depth to the music. This is especially true in the quieter moments, where the distorted guitars fade, the drumming tempo slows, but the vocals are kept in place.
In terms of individual songs, "Dear Antigone' best represents what this band is about. A mix of melodic riffs, clean sections with keys, two breakdowns, solid drumming, and the climax of the song (and album for that matter) where a melodic solo is played with blazing fast double bass in background kicking in during the end.
This band is kinda hard to describe in terms of genre. If I could take a shot I’d call it melodic deathcore. They are unique in a sense, the black metal influences present with the addition of the atmospheric keys definitely create some genre debates. On their myspace it says “Metal/Death Metal/Black Metal” so I guess that’s that.
I really don’t know who to recommend this band to, they’re a pretty unique group, but overall nothing groundbreaking. I say if you like metalcore or deathcore but don’t like all the hxc baggage that goes along with it (ahem
Winds of Plague ahem), check these guys out.
Pros:
- Clean key sections that slow the otherwise fast pace
- General atmosphere
- Most songs deliever (of the 8 that are actual songs)
- Cover art is some of the best I've seen, and captures the feel of the band
Cons:
- Nothing mind-blowing you haven't heard before, its just different in some ways
- Clean vocals only make an appearance on the final track
