Album Review: Lastbreath - Vendetta
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
Forming during 2017 Lastbreath are a Hardcore band from the South Side of Sardinia in Italy called Cagliari. The band who have a couple of releases to their name are ready to unleash Vendetta which will be the bands first full length album.
Lastbreath has a sound which is very European. The bands style reminds me a lot of late 90’s and early 00’s bands such as Kickback (Cornered era), Knuckledust and Backfire!, where they take the attitude and writing style of NYHC and add a slightly more metallic edge in places. The metallic edge is done well and does retract from the bands writing i.e. they don’t sound like a metal band playing hardcore. On the whole Vendetta does not have massive amounts of originality within its tracks but don’t let that be taken as a negative.
The album is very true to the style that Lastbreath find themselves fitting into, and the way they craft the tracks is done well. It is full of heavy riffs which are fast paced and energetic throughout. When the mosh sections drop they have a very early 90’s New York vibe to them, opposed to a heavily metallic beatdown vibe which you could say is more the vibe with hardcore with a more metallic edge. The drums are punchy and the vocals echo the previously mentioned Kickback sound as frontman Matteo Montis reminds me at times of Kickback frontman Stéphen Bessac. Vendetta’s high points are the more anthemic style tracks such as “My Brothers Keeper” which closes the record in superb fashion. These tracks just have a better feel in both the craft of the songs and the passion can be felt more.
Lastbreath provides what it says on the tin record. It’s a well written album but it may come across as dated sounding in places as Vendetta really does sound like it could have come out 20 years ago, with limited progression. What it does have is a genuine sound where you can tell that the members really love what they play and it does come across in their music.
