THE ALBUM OF THE DAY IS… BREED 77, IN MY BLOOD (EN MI SANGRE)
The fine gentlemen of Breed 77 bring the Rock all the way from Gibraltar (sorry, couldn’t resist), the small island off the south coast of Spain. Breed 77 are an incredibly talented bunch, and In My Blood is their best effort yet, an alt-metal masterpiece that filters the grandiose, epic songwriting of Bon Jovi through the musical sensibility and rhythms of System of a Down. Thanks in part to the production and mixing of Ron Saint Germain (Tool, Living Colour, 311) this album is a sonic gem, with layers upon layers that have me still hearing new dimensions a year after I first listened — and the amazing part is that “Saint” recorded the entire thing on analog tape.
This album is equal parts heavy rock and power balladry. Album opener “Petroleo” gets things started off right with a very System of a Down-esque guitar passage, though the addition of Flamenco-style guitars, as throughout the rest of the album, adds a distinct flavor. Paul Isola’s diverse vocals soar above the track, as they do on the lead single “Blind,” another powerful hard rocker with a driving force. However the band is truly at their best on the slower numbers “Look at Me Now” and “So You Know,” two incredibly powerful songs that almost act as Part I and Part II of the same piece. “Look at Me Now” is a dynamic, piano-based power ballad with an epic chorus that brings you along for the ride with Isola’s tale of lost love. “So You Know” is far and away the most impressive track on this disc. It starts off quietly with a lone vocal, and it builds and thickens bit by bit, one piece at a time, and it builds some more and now it’s louder, and holy shit now there’s a full ORCHESTRA playing, and a scorching Flamenco guitar solo, and it builds and builds and HOLY SHIT there’s an ENORMOUS wall-of-sound distorted guitar beneath the chorus and oh my god the strings are back and the tension is just unbearable all the way up to the end and then!!!!!… release… it’s over. Sadly this track isn’t on Breed 77’s MySpace, but you should pay them a serious listen anyway because they straight up rock.
-VN
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