Breather Resist - Only In The Morning

Converge-spawned metallic hardcore acts seem to be more popular than pop-punk bands nowadays – which is to say, there’s much too many. As anvil-heavy hardcore bands continue to erupt across the globe, there’s a steady decrease in quality, originality, and ingenuity. Which is why a band such as Breather Resist are a tricky four-some to evaluate: they’re leagues away from being the best, but far from being the worst. Only In The Morning, Breather Resist’s eight track debut disc, is an album rife with serrated hardcore vocals and crushing guitar chords that work their best on the slash-and-burn riffage of “Just Do It” and the rhythmic stomp of “The Best Mistake.” But despite the short time span Only In The Morning allocates (a mere 22 minutes), it struggles to keep the listener’s attention throughout. Breather Resist are simply a mediocre band with a mediocre debut album. Hopefully they’ll escape their influences and their Xerox-copied sound that borrows from both Botch and Converge so that bands may one day begin copying them. [www.breatherresist.com]