Review Summary: The scintillating final offering from Breach shows the realms of possibilities that could have been.
Kollapse opens with soaring reverberating guitar notes that are, dare I say, hopeful? Taking note of this possible brightening of outlook one must ask themselves, is this really a Breach album? Has the band that brought so much darkness and trepidation with
Friction,
It’s Me God and
Venom finally lightened up a bit? Thankfully no, they are still as fearsome as ever liquifying your brain into slime. After the deceptively pleasant “Big Strong Boss” they decide they should remind you of the madness they are so capable of with “Old Ass Player”. It’s a reminder how easily they can detonate your ear drums with their powerful sound.
The final offering from Breach,
Kollapse showcases how many different directions the band could have moved in. If this were coming from some other bands it may end up sounding messy, chaotic or disjointed. In the skillful hands of these Swedes it comes out brilliant and coherent. Showing just enough flair, anger, experimentation and hysteria to all fit together beautifully but at the same time gives insight into their influences and future possibilities. The quiet noodlings like “Sphincter Ani” and “Seven” show that when they want to they can show restraint and explore a soundscape calmly.
Not to make you think this whole album is an ant free picnic they still travel into the dark corners with songs like “Alarma” and “Mr. Marshall”. I still have no idea what “Mr. Marshall” is about but the bits of lyrics I do catch don’t sound pleasant. They also takes forays into what could be described as post metal or rock, “Teeth Out” is probably the best example of this with the entire song forming around a single repeating guitar line with slight variations. The entire time it slowly builds tension and while you’re expecting the calmness to be consumed with a furious explosion of sound and feedback it never quite gets there. Instead the tension is held to a tempered level and it stays there till it’s all over.
“Breathing Dust” along with “Murder Kings and Killer Queens” are chaotic rampages blazing by leaving a wake of blood and bodies behind. The most jarring track on here is actually in the form of “Lost Crew” which invokes the style of a 70’s pop punk throwback smothered with a heavy dose of metal. This only makes sense if you look at part Breach’s history where the founding members were in a 70’s pop punk band. Another change that occurred on
Kollapse is the actual singing of Tomas. Before he would only scream and yell, here we find him singing very competently. His lyrics are strange as they have ever been and I believe he deviates between English and Swedish at some points making it a little difficult to interpret what he’s saying.
At their final show in 2007 the band proceeded to destroy all of their instruments further cementing the indication they wouldn’t be playing together again. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to an amazing discography from a group of guys who have only recently begun to get some recognition for their brilliance.
Kollapse alternately soars and dives into blackness all while pulling out some surprises along the way. If this doesn’t convince you to give them a chance I don’t think anything will.
