Genre : Hardcore
Released : October 29th, 2021
Label : SharpTone Records
FFO : Knocked Loose, Vein, Converge
Last year's "Irrational Pull" was both my introduction to 156/Silence and my favourite hardcore album of 2020 due to how intense and unique the vocals were and how unforgiving the band sounded on it as a whole.
On "Don't Hold Your Breath", the band sounds as pissed off as ever and yet are also able to incorporate slight elements of melody in their songwriting, something that their 2020 LP hinted at in its closing track "Denouement".
What I mean by melody is not clean sung choruses or uplifting major key guitar work, but rather a melancholic atmosphere that slithers in the background in the form of synths or clean guitars while walls of dissonance, chunky riffs, thundering bass and drumwork take the forefront, lead by frontman Jack Murray's raw, punchy vocals that are filled to the brim with anger and venom.
So much so that on a track like "The Wrong Sense", it almost feels as though the band's vocalist has been possessed by some kind of vengeful spirit solely fueled by suffering and anger, who has surpassed the need for air and instead, relentlessly spits out words written by an incredibly razor-sharp pen.
Although barely clocking over the ten minute mark, "Don't Hold Your Breath" leaves the listener with a lasting impression, similarly to how a blackeye would...
With a great sense of violent grooves, atmosphere, hair-raising aggression and emotion captured by eloquent lyricism; this is easily one of the most compelling EP's to come out this year in my opinion and 156/Silence have once again joined the ranks of my favourite hardcore releases with this EP.
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