Singles

Breed 77 - Blind EP

Dan Round 02/09/2006

Rating: 2/5

Some bands achieve grandeur and metal. Muse, for example, swapped the prog rock of Origin of Symmetry for a dark, metallic and heavier rock sound on Absolution, but managed to hold onto (and add to) their already grand, important scheming. Some bands, however, fail spectacularly. On Blind, Breed 77 don't fail spectacularly, but they do miss their large scaled target. The vocals don't command the authority or importance they aim for, and the tacky, erratic, Latino influenced interlude doesn't really do the band any favours.

Track 2, Someone Tell Me however does repair some of the damage. It's poppier and doesn't sound as rushed or cluttered as the title track, it's soft, old-fashioned metal recalls Black Sabbath's commercial period, or even early Metallica. The follow up, Once Again has a tried-and-tested loud-to-soft dynamic and more Latino influence in the form of flamenco-esque strumming. It's nice enough, but as with the previous tracks it suffers slightly from too much unsatisfying repetition, and it doesn't seem to have a real direction. It just ends without really taking the listener on much of a journey.

Breed 77 are certainly not the worst metal band to come out of these shores, but with the new material not a patch on their previous album (2004's debut, Cultura, which helped the band on their way to a nomination for Metal Hammer's “Best British Act” the following year), I can't see them really going anywhere commercially or critically. Maybe they've left it too late to release new material, and the spark has gone, but Breed 77 don't seem to fit into any particular rock scene at the moment. The disappointment of this new release will not reverse that in any shape or form.


Released on September 4th taken from the forthcoming album “In My Blood”, out on the 11th of September.