[ArtistOTD] Unchained Breathing

Artist: Unchained Breathing
Genre: Deathcore/Metalcore
Location: Limburg, The Netherlands
Label Type: Unsigned
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ubnl
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/unchainedbreathing
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Unchainedbreathing

Today's artist of the day is Unchained Breathing, an unsigned deathcore band from Limburg, NL. Over the last three years this group of rag tag ragamuffins have grown to become one of Limburg's most well known bands. Managing to build a steady fanbase, they currently tour all over Europe, playing alongside bands such as Blindsight, Sworn Enemy and Forget to Forgive among others. Their first offering, I Force Myself, provides a fantastic insight into this band's potential. While the members of Unchained Breathing are unable to drink in the USA, they've managed to create a surprisingly well developed sound.

Arguably their worst song is The Hudson, despite being a technically fantastic song, with Niels Kuchta and Dimitrie van Dijk combining stupendously to create a heavy and atmospheric vibe, they are let down by some amateurish vocals. Although versatile, Conner van Dijk finds it hard to steer the line between fog horn and terrified pig in oinking for dear life in the near frozen Hudson. Fortunately, his vocal performance improves greatly in Buried Between the Dead and the Fall, a more upbeat song with a faster tempo. Buried Between the Dead and the Fall brings to mind Obscura's masterpiece album, Cosomogenesis, although Unchained Breathing still have a little way to go before they could be put into the same league. Pull Here for the Parachute, is a darker, heavier tune. Although the occasional pig squeal reminds you that your listening to a group of Dutch 19 year old's, Pull Here for the Parachute once delivers a great listen for the educated pallet. Unchained Breathing are definitely a band to look out for in the future, it would be a great shame if they were confined to the back alleys of Limburg for many more years to come. 

Reviewed by Sam Barnett