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Black Breath > Razor to Oblivion > Reviews > TheKEZ
Black Breath - Razor to Oblivion

Crushing EP! - 92%

TheKEZ, December 14th, 2011

Black Breath's first EP is an absolute beast of a record. From the exhilerating opening riff of title track and opener Razor To Oblivion, to the final chugs of mammoth closer, Murder, this is 15 minutes well spent!

You've probably heard the deal by now (if not, where have you been?) ; the crusty attack of d-beat hardcore infused with the spirit of the vintage Stockholm sound, which sounds pretty good on paper but is absolutley ferocious in practice. If anything, this EP has slightly less of the Entombed worship found on their storming debut full-length, Heavy Breathing, and more of a straight-up thrash influence. Fatal Error kicks off with some mildly D.R.I. flavoured riffage, and even ventures into older Bathory territory in the middle, before charging straight back into a gloriously tight and punky rampage.

Southern Lord has recently signed quite a few bands that fuse together hardcore punk and Swedish death metal, but the overall mood of this record is not as dark as, say, Nails or Trap Them. This sounds furious in the way that a bunch of dudes jamming in a garage after a couple of beers does, which is absolutely not to the EP's detriment. There's definately a faint smell of Motorhead in many of the riffs here, which lend the songs a certain rock'n'roll sensibility.

The sound is spot-on, with a guitar tone to die for, a beautifully crusty bass sound and vocals that slice through everything with vicious intent. Everything sounds really crisp, yet retains that filthy, gritty element, which suits these songs perfectly. There's something here for everyone, whether you're more into your thrash, hardcore, death or black metal, you're almost certainly going to be throwing the horns before this all-too-brief EP has run it's course. Basically, just go and buy this. Right now!