Breathe Atlantis. Going off of name alone, it’s immediately apparent what kind of experience you’re in for: yet another typical metalcore album that blends in with the vast ocean of similar sounding music lacking any form of identity. Sure, it leans somewhat more towards the post-hardcore side than what Arising Empire bands are well known for but that doesn’t offer it more weight in the grand scheme of things.
Despite the album being 37 minutes long, I’d argue that it is a mere 4 minutes long. You can listen to any singular song off it and experience all that the album has to offer. Even if you have the braveness to sit through for the entirety of it, it would be a mammoth task to actually go back and recall any standout songs or moments. “Overdrive”, “Earthquake”, “Heavy Hearts”, “Gates Of Hell” and so on just resonate an empty, soulless chamber. These names mean nothing. These songs, among others off Overdrive, while not the same, are one. Despite there being momentary breaks from the overbearing guitars in favour of some melodic bits, the album is an endless slog of ABABCB structure.
Speaking of the guitars, they are often too in your face; constantly present in the foreground and extremely repetitive in nature. While they do offer some catchiness to it, they lack any and all substance and just feel like brainless riffage. I half expected the two great features, Eddie Berg of Imminence and Nico Sallach of Electric Callboy to act as a saving grace, but they ultimately fall victim to the repetitive and bland din of Overdrive. Credit where credit is due though, vocalist Nico Schiesewitz, while not an amazing songwriter, has a great balance of clean and unclean vocals that are blend decently across the board.
It’s high time for a sonic change in the metalcore scene. Numerous bands just fizzle out following a subpar-to-average sound that has been perfected and overdone time and again and Breathe Atlantis fall victim to it. While Overdrive is by no means awful, it is not exactly good either. Just another metalcore band smashing out another album that is just a sliver away from being passably mediocre.
4.5/10