Asthma Attaq
Breathe Heavy
Forever Escaping Boredom Records

I wonder how I would feel about this album if I had no idea what the band name was, or what the song titles were. The music here largely falls into the screamo/artsy hardcore category; there’s a lot of swift, angular guitars, a lot of gritty, throaty vocals, a lot of riff and rhythmic shifts. The songs are undeniably complex and visceral. This is the kind of stuff that you’d usually associate with Level Plane Records, with bands that take themselves really seriously and write poetic, tortured songs. But the “q” in “Asthma Attaq” should be your first clue that these guys are just a little goofy, and have more than just a little bit of a metal sensibility. The music here straddles the line between hardcore and metal, keeping listeners on their toes, and making us think a little bit harder than we normally would about your average ten-track screamo record.

For instance: one of the strongest songs on this album begins with a lovely, tranquil guitar line. The sound builds slowly over time, introducing more and more elements—screamed vocals, distortion—until the song is hard and intense, rolling out of the speakers like thunder. Yet, the subtlety of the original line is still under there, somewhere, peeking out every few bars between the lulls in the distortion. It’s an admirable, skilled fusion between raging and subdued moods. And what is this song called? “I Don’t Care If She Is Ms. Hairless America I’m Spoken For.”

There are similarly jarring juxtapositions throughout the album: a decidedly artsy-sounding screamo song that will suddenly interrupt itself with an undeniably metalcore lick. Guitars that are just a little too bright for the solemn, angular lines that are being played. A song called “Pick Them Bones Dry.” Now, the idea of fusing hardcore/screamo/metal is not a new one, and it’s not a bad idea either. I do think, however, that Asthma Attaq needs to get their fusion to a more seamless level so that the contrasts work the way they’re supposed to work. We should be startled or jarred, but not because something sounds out of place; we should be caught off guard by the way two disparate elements are so smoothly joined together.

That having been said, the songs are overall pretty strong; Asthma Attaq have several strengths—unrelated to their genre-bending—that serve this album well. Instrumental developments/jams feature prominently in these tracks, and the band is adept at building moods and textures over the course of these jams. The last two songs in particular—“Premium Prosthetics” and “Theme for the Avenger”—are especially strong in this respect. The band also has a knack for introductions; many of these songs are five and six minutes long, so a captivating opener is crucial to pull the listener in for the relatively lengthy ride. While most of the songs ultimately have similar sounds (which is the case for the vast majority of albums anyways), each track opens with a different and intriguing mood.

I’ll be interested to see how Asthma Attaq chooses to approach their next album. The basic skills and structures are definitely in place right now; I think this band just needs to figure out how to balance the metal/screamo elements of their sound. I think the band is capable of doing either genre well, and I think they could also muster up a respectable fusion, if they worked at it a bit. Personally, I’m rooting for the screamo side, but that’s just me.