EP REVIEW: Breathe/Rust – THERE IS HELL

’…four tracks of pure musical aggression that certainly should find a room in your heavy music rotation…’

South-west hardcore act Breathe/Rust arrived on the scene last year with their debut EP, ‘WHEREVER THERE IS MAN’. Four tracks and thirteen minutes of pure hardcore brutality, it was a solid start to their careers, with just enough melodic complexity threaded in between the densely packed walls of sound to make it stand out.

Now the band have returned with their second EP, ‘THERE IS HELL’, which picks up where their debut left off, and continues to flesh out their sound in the manner of a band truly beginning to uncover their identity. Leaning more in a blackened hardcore direction, the EP grapples with the complex role of humanity in the wider ecological web, and the belief that change truly is possible.

Things here are pushed even further to extremes than on their previous outing, with the opening track ‘NOVA’ slamming into the listener with a wall of furious, distorted, down tuned guitars, layered over a rampage of percussion. The vocals are pushed to such guttural extremes that they barely sound human, only adding to the claustrophobic, overwhelming nature of it all.

’LONELY MOTHER’ takes that brutality, spins it in a different direction, with the band taking on a slower, sludgier sound that marches forth with real gravity. Breathe/Rust use this apocalyptic track to lyrically tie together their previous and current EPs, which is a nice little artistic twist (‘Wherever there is man/There is hell’).

’SNAKE CHARMER’ is the real highlight of this EP, however. The beat switch-ups throughout energise the whole affair with electrifying brutality, especially as the track crashes into surprisingly danceable choruses that are guaranteed to get you moving. The band have struck gold with this track, and asthe lead single of the EP, it’s clear Breathe/Rust knew they had struck gold too.

Certainly, there’s still a lot more that this band can give to us, but Breathe/Rust are now two for two in terms of solid, skull-busting hardcore. Even removed from the glimmers of a truly unique band that shine through at various moments, ‘THERE IS HELL’ is four tracks of pure musical aggression that certainly should find a room in your heavy music rotation.

RATING: 75/100 – Mostly Very Good

For Fans Of: Knocked Loose, Lo!, Cainhurst, Deafheaven, Speed

Physical copies of the EP are available to purchase here.

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Spotify