Black Breath at the Basement Gig Review

As soon as you step into The Basement in Belconnen you’re struck by its dank but very cozy atmosphere, with pool tables in one half of the pub and a small stage off to the right. The place likes its heavy music, as can be seen by the myriad of gig posters and grim artwork covering its walls. Every week, there’ll be some sort of rock or metal gig featuring bands anywhere from Canberra to overseas. Last Sunday saw the latter; American hardcore/metal act Black Breath stopped by as part of their 2013 Australian tour, accompanied by national support and homegrown hardcore heroes I Exist.

Over 100 people turned up to the show, which is a pretty strong number compared to other events held at The Basement usually. It was a strange mix of two different scenes as well; half the audience were metalheads with their long flowing hair, patched denim jackets and headbanging throughout, while the other was a crowd more into hardcore punk, who stood back for most of the night with their arms folded, nodding along. This was probably thanks to Black Breath’s crossover appeal in their music.

Local band Hygiene took the stage first, with the four piece playing their brand of quick and angry hardcore punk to a still but approving crowd, who clapped and gave the odd whistle after each song. Most of the songs they played sounded similar to one another, with fast drumming blast beats, slower heavy sections and drop-tuned guitars. For a band whose sound revolves around these elements though, this was to be expected. Their set did its job though, warming up the crowd for the bigger acts following.

It

would be accurate to call I Exist a local band but at the same time, not really. Though originally from Canberra, the band’s members spread out across the country and even to the UK after they signed to Resist Records in 2011. They’ve still managed to hold it together though, putting out two albums and touring with other successful international acts since then. They also have 7 members including 4 guitarists; over the top but it does add to their live show. Unfortunately, one of their guitarists Adrian Kelly (who also happens to be the editor of Blunt Magazine) wasn’t with them for this show. Still, it was pretty hard to understand how 6 members were fitting on such a small stage.

The first 4 songs of bluesy-riff infused hardcore played were straight from their first album I: A Turn For the Worse, which seemed to please older fans. There was still no movement from the crowd except for a pretty moderate amount of headbanging and nodding around the room. Their vocalist Jake Willoughby would intermittently put his foot up on the stage barrier and angrily scan the crowd as he bellowed deeply into his mic, which for lack of a better word, looked epic. After a few more recent songs and a very lively and energetic performance from them, it was clear the crowd were happy to see one of their town’s old bands live again.

It seemed that most people were there to see the stupidly heavy Black Breath from Seattle, and they weren’t disappointed in the slightest. People were truly moving now, and from the back of the room you all you could see was hair flying around the place – partially attributed to by the fact that every member in the band had their own sets of long hair as well.

But you couldn’t blame those metalheads, because it was impossible not to headbang to this band. They completely blew the crowd away with furious hurricanes of guitar shredding and quick drums followed up by crushing chugs and riffs which seemed to grab your head and bang it for you. Even those, like myself, who hadn’t heard a whole lot of them before were completely into their performance.

There was always a roar and applause after each song, and Black Breath didn’t let up once, constantly moving about on stage and displaying technical musicianship. They rounded out their set after 40 minutes to calls for one more song from rowdy and drunken fans, but nothing came from it.

Even after being a show-goer for some time now and seeing bands of different genres play, there was a unique energy on the night that I haven’t seen in any other style of music, and it was great to experience.