Breach
Venom

Listening to "Venom" makes one regret the fact that Breach have now disbanded, an album that, even today, is one of the highest peaks of a certain way of understanding music.

Breach are, in fact, placed within the vast collection of post-hardcore. They perhaps represent the most dynamic, physical, and obsessive soul of this genre. Far from the gloomy pessimism, resignation, and introspection of Neurosis, also distant from the psychedelic tendencies of Isis or the sonic extremism of Converge, Breach manage to have an enormous personality and forge a sound that has now become their trademark!

The riffs with a clear hardcore origin are still present and give the songs a truly impressive emotional impact, but all often presented with slow, obsessive rhythms and all supported by a deliberately dirty production that gives the album a lot of depth. A clear demonstration of this is the first track "helldrivers" (the sonic manifesto of the album) or the dirty "heroine," which lives in moments of stasis and sonic explosions that seem to unleash a constrained energy in vain. More dynamic episodes are not missing, such as the compelling "path of conscience" and "Gheeà," both supported by guitar riffs that tend to increase in intensity and pitch, such that it becomes impossible to breathe and distract attention!

Here lies the great emotional impact Breach have on the listener, the ability to immerse us in an atmosphere filled with anxious anticipation, as if we were in the moments before an explosion, a tragedy that you know will eventually come. The greatness of bands like Breach lies in their ability to immerse you in deep moods that aim for catharsis, a release for the listener. Noteworthy is also the instrumental "black sabbath" (not a cover of the eponymous track), which starts with a bass immediately doubled by the guitar, expanding over its nearly 5 minutes, with a constant repetition of its main theme, all accompanied by a pounding drum.

The work is positively homogeneous and therefore what matters is the general atmosphere, which is why a track by track, in my opinion, is superfluous. Dirty, sinister, dark, and deep work that manages to be introspective without giving up being direct!