Review Summary: Horror Movies Meets Hardcore Punk.
Before I wrote this intro, it took me about an hour to find a proper intro to make you, the listener, familiar with New Jersey’s finest. The band that if a every horror movie ever created was merged together and created into a band, it would be The Banner. Before we get into the album, let me give you a quick introduction of who was a part of this band in the making of “Each Breath Haunted”.
Mike Lebouf-drums (credited on the record playing drums but joined the band after the recording)
Ian Mullen-bass and drums
Chris Lebouf-guitar
Garret Defalco-guitar
Joey Southside-vocals
Lets get one thing out of the way, “Each Breath Haunted” is a hardcore punk album with metal influences. So what sets apart their music from other hardcore punk bands. Joey Southside’s lyrics are influenced more by horror imagery which I will get into later in this review. The music on “Each Breath Haunted” blends together with Joey Southside’s lyrical content and create an atmosphere mixed with hardcore anthems, violent topics, and even some dark comical humor which I will also touch upon later in this review. For nearly 43 minutes, The Banner invite you to take a gander into their world and how they view it.
“Devilhawks” is the opening track and what a way to kick start an album. A slow buildup starts off while Joey Southside screams and then a bass solo comes in and soon enough, the hardcore punk they are known for blasts into the listener’s ear. Probably one of the best intros to a hardcore punk album I’ve heard in a while and the buildup was just tremendous. “Venom and Hope” and “I’ll Be Happy When You’re ***ing Dead” continue the onslaught with the latter track probably being one of the best off the album with a tremendous gang vocal chant of “I’ll Be ***ing Happy When You’re ***ing Dead, And I’ll ***ing Smile When You’re ***ing Dead”. Things slow down a bit with “An Allergy To Sun” with the first real sense of an actual chorus. Garret and Chris also show off their guitar solos for the first time which are actually in place with the song . They don’t feel forced or overdone. The ending of the song also shows that The Banner can actually pull off being melodic. After this track the album takes a kind of a weird turn for me personally with “Sovereign of the Black Pit”. It’s an instrumental track with only the guitar playing a very dark sound. I understand the point of this track but I personally think it kind of makes the album drag a bit. We finally get back the hardcore punk with “Black Hood” which has a very eerie breakdown after the first verse and probably the best gang vocal chant off the whole album which ends with the drums pounding the listener and the vocal chant of “Damn These Eyes! Curse This Life!”. “An Allergy to Silver” starts off a bit more melodic then has a rapid burst of hardcore. We get another taste of the guitar solos while Joey screams “And She Says This Song Reads Like You’re Saying Goodbye. And I’m Saying Goodbye.” Then a quick bass solo kicks along with drums which have a very punk feel to them.
Another buildup follows with the track “Hell On A Horse” and once again, they hit it right on the money with the buildup because it does what its suppose to. It makes you excited for the track and The Banner don’t let you down. The song ends with a very metalcore guitar riff while another guitar plays a solo. After this, there is basically a very “warbling” sound for a couple of minutes and then “Interlude” comes on which is an instrumental track. Again, I don’t see the need for this break in the album. The listener then hits “Muddweller” which starts off with more melodic guitars while the drums pound away. After a while of the beating The Banner gives to your ears, the track hits the guitar solo which is scary in a way. The drum roll hits and Joey applies spoken word vocals before a roaring finish. With “Coffin Nails”, The Banner goes back to their traditional hardcore roots and with some of Joey’s best lyrics on the album. “Tragedy” has probably the most obvious horror imagery and the track is filled with thrash elements. It’s a great setup for the final track, “I Am Legend” which is like the bands grand finale. It feels like the band took all the musical ideas and strength they had left in them and decided to leave on the red carpet from which they came in. The track begins with very soft singing by Joey before he screams “I AM LEGEND! I AM THE END!” and in comes the ferocious attack which The Banner did throughtout the whole album but in this track, there is a difference. Guitar solos are a huge part of this track as you can hear the great guitar work Garret and Chris come up with throughout the whole track. There is no real structure to the song and for a 6 minute track to keep you interested, it must be a hell of a track. Garret and Chris blaze through with what they do best before the track halts all of a sudden and Joey begins the soft singing at the start of the track. After that, the band just goes all out to give you a great finish as the track slowly fades out. This is probably the best track on the album.
Music wise, The Banner are more ambitous on “Each Breath Haunted” as they decide to expand on the music they created with “Posthumous” (which was more traditional hardcore punk) and “Your Murder Mixtape” (which had more of a metalcore feel). They sound more confident and they finally expand on their guitar work by using more guitar solos which are very eerie and almost scary. I would compare the solos to Samhain and early Danzig. As always, Garret and Chris succeed on their hardcore punk guitar work and the use of metalcore influences has been toned down a bit which is very satisfying. Ian’s bass and drum work are downright incredible as you can actually hear the bass and the bass solos he pulls off are a refreshing sound to the ears. The drum work has always been a stronger point to The Banner’s previous efforts and in this album, its no different. There is a bit more experimenting with Ian’s drum work and it’s a bit more ferocious on this effort than the others. Joey Southside is probably the best screamer out there, period. Unlike other screamers, where the screams sound forced, Joey’s are more smooth and flow throughout the whole album. He also combines his hardcore punk vocals on “Posthumous” and his more metalcore vocals on “Your Murder Mixtape” to make his vocals have more impact and sound a bit more darker. Not to mention that the guy can actually sing. Lyrically, Joey offers some of his best work to date. He still uses the horror imagery he used in previous efforts, but they are more focused on vampires, werewolves, and hell like creatures. Unlike the more cartoonish horror imagery the Misfits use, Joey’s is more dark and sadistic The interesting thing about his lyrical work is that he uses this horror imagery as metaphors for personal tragedies, insanity, sadness, romance, and thinking. The use of dark humor also enhances Joey’s already tremendous lyrics.
The Banner did breakup a while back but then decided to come back and it’s a good thing. I’m really interested in what they do next. I do believe that this album is one of the top 5 hardcore albums to be released this decade. But hey, that’s my personal opinion. You should listen for yourself and form an opinion. So make some popcorn and enjoy the horror show.
