For your average metal extremist, raw, unadulterated death metal is always going to be greatly appreciated. Those deeply satisfying, gravelly growls teamed with signature riffs and infectious grooves are guaranteed to get heads banging. One group paying a fantastic tribute to the old school are notorious Seattle five piece Black Breath.
Easing up somewhat their previously thrashy punk/crust sound, Black Breath are back with their third full length release Slaves Beyond Death. This album takes Black Breath in a slight change of direction from previous efforts Heavy Breathing and Sentenced to Life, with a heavier focus on old school death metal and large chunks of groove. If you can envisage Obituary circa their Cause of Death era twinned with Grave and further twinned with the raw brilliance of Necrophagia, then you pretty much have Slaves Beyond Death in a nutshell. The Seattle quintet has also managed to successfully harness some distinct old school Swedish death metal vibes on it, giving the album a signature raw feel.
The majority of tracks on Slaves Beyond Death are crammed with hench grooves and infectious riffs, guaranteed to be wedged into your brain for days, and boy will you love it. Tracks such as title number and A Place of Insane Cruelty are chugging, intense songs that border along death doom at points. A Place of Insane Cruelty is by far the most infectious track on the album, with such a groovy riff behind it, Black Breath almost sound like a much slower version of fellow Old School fanatics Californian’s Skeletal Remains.
Probably the best quality that Slaves Beyond Death possesses is a real sense of variety between each track. Unlike many extreme metal albums, every track on it is unique and stands apart from the others, keeping the listener on their toes throughout and all in all making the album a very enjoyable listen.
To summarise, Slaves Beyond Death is an unadulterated and extreme tour de force that is unique from the majority of new extreme metal that’s out there. Its commanding sound and conspicuously grim vibe is set to be a hit with all fans of death metal, doom and even crust and will certainly draw some new fans into the Black Breath camp. Basically, if you like your metal gritty, grim and with those signature Swedish undertones then you’ll be raving about this album for quite some time.
(8/10 Eilish Foxen)
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