We Are To Blame – Breathe (2022)
With their third release ‘Breathe’, We Are To Blame continue to showcase just what happens when you marry pop melodies with a metal foundation. Packed with heavy rhythm grooves and catchy melodics, the single soars through heavy metal soundscapes, leaving a trail of Gothic wonder. Bordering on the anthemic, the single is an exciting blend of sound that sears its way into your heart and has you diving into their other tracks while wishing they had more.
Bringing stunning stories to melancholic sensibilities, the band offers something truly unique and utterly captivating. Formed when Johan Karlsson (guitars, vocals) posted an ad for a pop vocalist for a metal band, Alice Hartvig (vocals) soon found that she was the perfect fit for the project. With Urban Granbacke (guitars), they started the unique sound of the band that draws on powerful melodic metal, death metal, electronic and symphonic tones.
‘Breathe’ rises from the depths of the soundscape with a powerful energy that slowly grabs your attention with the strains of the guitar. This bursts into a heavier alternative rock and heavy metal tone that pushes through your chest. It is a fantastic metal core vibe that builds a pressure of energy in your muscles that you know will need to find an outlet somehow. Woven into the melody is an infectious push that has you moving to its grooves. As the melody heads into the chorus, lighter tones make their way into the sound, bringing a slight sense of relief from the aggressive push of the metal guitars. The melody is a stunning combination of different metal sensibilities that don’t really let up for a second, even as they flow through a slight change in rhythm to enhance the power of the vocals. The prowess of the melody is a testament to the band’s musicality as it keeps you hooked and being shocked when the over six-minute-long track comes to an end. The guitar solo later in the track is definitely a serious highlight to look out for.
While the melody is pulsing a fusion of metal into your veins, Harvig’s vocals bring this cold splash of water to your senses. The clarity of her vocals is stunning as they curl around you like water swirling around your ankles. As you head into the chorus, the bite of coolness in her performance hits like a plunge into cold water or the first breath of cold air in the early morning. This bite brings the message of the lyrics to life while infusing the power of her performance into each word. Through her vocals, you can feel the touch of pop melodics, but this rises into something quite Gothic in nature. Her voice is powerful and controlled in its build through the single, showcasing a real mastery of what she does.
We Are To Blame grips you with their metalcore melodics, while the vocals rise on a powerful flow with a touch of Gothic sensibilities in the rather anthemic ‘Breathe’. From the first second, you can feel the rising power of the single through the melody as it grows out of the depths, before sweeping you into the pulse of guitars. Hartvig’s vocals bring a bite of cool water that brings the clarity and message of the lyrics to life.
Find out more about We Are To Blame on their website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
