Barely Breathing – Relive The Regret

• 7th Apr 2008

Balanced somewhere between Atreyu and Bullet, just standing next to Killswitch are Barely Breathing. But it’s not somewhere they belong or would want to be.

Above average could not be applied more succinctly-at times even down right awesome could be accurately attached to them.

It’s a tight package of seven songs that act as a precursor to a June album and the anticipation could not be whetted better.

Metal-core by design it moves and navigates it’s way around the genres numerous pitfalls by using riffs sparingly and only when the maximum impact can be afforded-never overtly complex and resulting in some fist throwing mayhem in the songs ’Guns of war’ and ’Ignite’.

The guitar frequently hints at an explosion, that at any moment something will happen, and despite some fine uses of rhythm it never truly blows up.

The sound of the band hitting their stride and possibly their restrictions comes through the vocals, mixed slightly low the heavy moments are all present and correct but the chorus sections require Cronje to open up more-making use of the space created by the instruments holding back.

Barely Breathing have more to give than the sub genre they base themselves in, simply being heavy is the only moniker they should aspire to-with those gloves off and the ability they have, it would free themselves to make a metal album and let everyone else decide what to call it.