Written by Carcassbomb
Breaths – Lined In Silver
Stoner/Prog/Doom/Post metal from Virginia, America
Releases March 26th, 2021
8/10
Lined In Silver is simultaneously familiar sounding and also filled with intrigue. Abandon your expectations and let the album unfold because it does not persist as it initially presents, which is something much closer to Deftones. It’s a comforting album that I play regularly, there are great storytelling instrumentals narrated by a very capable vocalist with alt rock and shoegaze roots. They’ve really honed in on a specific sound and rode it out to completion.
At first it feels lyrically simple but the lines survive well over repeated listens and allow for easier manipulation of the style between alternative and lowkey metal. Doom metal is definitely the biggest metal influence felt, with some comparisons to Katatonia and other melodic or progressive death doom. There’s more overt metal like on “The Forgotten Ones” where a black metal influence can be heard for a passage. It has a very addictive flow to the whole thing and I always look forward to putting it on. The base sound is always present but it warps in and out of bursts of stylistic shifts.
There’s quite a lot of melodrama and a very cinematic feel to a lot of the music. It’s well produced. The second track “The Weight & The Billows” is pure doom with oppressive depressive lyrics and a long riff, it’s quite alarming as the last thing you hear before the sleep meds kick in. There’s a good vocal modulation on this track that is more subtle and blends with his actual voice well, it made the whole thing feel like a very 00’s kind of doom. Which is probably my favorite kind, it has that “old modern” feel of Last Fair Deal Gone Down by Katatonia, as well as the emotional punch.
The melodies on the tracks are fantastic, even with the longer or repetitive ones, the tone sustains it. The guitars often have the flair of a gothic metal melody when it’s not a menacing nu-drone riff. The first half of the album is super memorable, particularly with surprises on tracks such as “Like Wires” with the baby death vocals, which is one of the funniest things incorporated into a song I’ve heard in a long time. Not since like… Dog Fashion Disco? It truly caught me off guard.
This is an ideal album for when the big night is winding down and whatever you took is wearing off gradually. Put on the good speakers and sink into the bass of the vocals and the recording quality of the drums. The second half of the album is less surprising but none the less reliable post metal mixed with varieties of doom metal and even black metal. It’s a set it and forget it type album that I’ve listened to dozens of times already as it seems to suit almost any mood or occasion, whether you want to have an active listen or a passive listen.
8/10
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