First off, Id like to apologize to Black Breath and Southern Lord. I’ve Had Black Breath’s Razor to Oblivion EP now for ages, but never got around to reviewing it. It kinda slipped through the cracks, and frankly nothing about it grabbed me and I most certainly did not see an album like Heavy Breathing as a follow up.

Bridging the gap between US acts like Trap Them, Fatalist and Entombed’s Wolverine Blues. Heavy Breathing is simply a kick ass, American take on Entombed’s (and thusly Discharge and Autopsy) groovy death ‘n’ roll, with a dash of hardcore, thrash, punk and heavy dose of piss and vinegar. The Kurt Ballou (Converge, etc) rumbling, buzz production is a pure Stockholm mid range rumble straight from Wolverine Blues, and so are many of the riffs. I mean when “I am Beyond” started, I almost sang “What you believe, is the vanity you conceive….” Ferchrissakes! However, they are not pure plagiarisms, as the band adds some of its own sludgy, feedback ridden character and rough edge, but believe me when I say that this is one of the better takes on the Entombed death ‘n’ roll sound.

There are so many great riotous moments on Heavy Breathing that I’m left breathing heavily once it ends, as virtually every track is winner. Notably, the fierce throttling opener “Black Sin (Spit On the Cross)” (tell me that the section at 1:45 isn’t pure Entombed), “Eat the Witch” which has moments that recalls Clandestine, “Escape From Death” which sounds like a lost track from the transitional Stranger Aeons EP, the aforementioned “I am Beyond” which has just a sick fucking bluesy groove about 2/3rds in, the punk fueled “Virus”, the vast, hazy lope of “Unholy Virgin” and closer “WeWhoCannotBeNamed” yet more Scrawling Entombed hues.

The only very minor downside is the vocals of Neil McAdams, who has a sort of gruff hardcore shout, but it’s a minor quibble on a killer album that pretty much rawks from start to finish, and will likely be a surprise entry on my 2010 year end list.

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