Review Summary: 156/Silence show the hardcore scene that sometimes less is more in this impressive bite-sized EP.
156/Silence is a fairly new hardcore band that made a small name for themselves with their 2020 debut,
Irrational Pull. Though the album was a fun experience, the band didn't really tread any new ground for the scene. However,
Don't Hold Your Breath delivers more variety and quality songwriting in just three tracks. Taking a "less is more" approach, the band takes you on a quick journey that excels at pulling more emotion out of the listener by utilizing their instruments in more ways than just making it heavier than the next band.
While the debut focused on stitching together chug-induced guitar and heart pounding drums with violent screeches and haunting spoken word vocals, the vocalist finds three distinct ways the band can explore the cohesion of these key instruments. "A Violent Delight" gives us more of what fans fell in love with
Irrational Pull with that signature vocal delivery battered with bass driven sections and breakdowns that sound like they were recorded directly in hell.
Things take a pleasant turn with "The Wrong Sense" and "Coup De Grâce". With post-hardcore tinged choruses and verses, the band shows they can give us more than just 0's on guitar. Even though we still get those ferocious breakdowns, the more emotionally driven sections around them let those heavier moments shine more like the final breakdown on this track. "Coup De Grâce" shrouds you in guitar tones more akin to Metallica than Norma Jean to set the tone. Instead of having the haunting spoken word sections pack a punch for the inevitable breakdown to follow, the vocalist uses them here more as a poem to add atmosphere to these slower portions that are also elevated by the variety their drummer delivers. This allows the heavy finale to hit with more passion and intensity as we don't get any chugs until around the 3:40 mark. As the vocalist repeats the words "don't hold your breath", you’re left with only a soul-stirring piano that fades out leaving you simply haunted.
156/Silence shows their more than just a rip-off of bands like Norma Jean or Converge here. They take their twisted breakdowns that made me fall in love with them just a year ago, and surround them with much more appealing passages that all elevate one another. Instead of simply making their next release "heavier" than the last,
Don't Hold Your Breath explores more emotionally driven moments that not only lend to more interesting tracks in a genre that's littered with copycats, but set a path for the band that's radiating with great potential. Don't sleep on this band.
