Tag: Firebreather

Live: The Well, Firebreather, Blunt, and Unto the Earth – Reggie’s – Chicago, IL – April 05, 2023

I made the chilly trip to Chicago once again, but this time to see a full night of doom metal at one of the best punk and metal clubs in town – Reggie’s. Four bands playing doom and stoner rock? I’m there.

First up were two local bands, the first being Unto the Earth, who played a solid doom and sludge set set with serious shredding (on one of the most metal-looking guitars I’ve seen in a while). They were clearly having a great time.

Unto the Earth

Next, from nearby DeKalb, Illinois, came Blunt, who set up their gear, tuned a bit, and then said, “Hello. We are Blunt.” and then proceeded to unload a thundering set of sludge metal.

Blunt

I admit, I was a little sleepy after Blunt’s set. This was not from their set. It had been a long day and a two-hour drive to Reggie’s from my house, so I was a little drowsy during the downtime after they were taking their gear from the stage. That ended when, all the way from Sweden, Firebreather came out and practically set the place on fire with their blast furnace-like set.

Firebreather

Closing out the night were The Well, from Austin, Texas, who are one of my favorite doom-psych bands out there. I’d last seen them at Levitation Austin last year, and they sounded even better here. Praise must be given to whomever was mixing the sound at Reggie’s that night, because he or she helped pull every note from The Well’s set to help melt our faces and minds. One of the highlights for me was hearing a new song they’re working on (tentatively called “Christmas” or “Christmas Lights”) after hearing it for the first time at Levitation. I could tell they’d been working the song for a while because it was tighter, creepier, and stronger. The whole set roared.

The Well

The Well and Firebreather are still touring together, so get to see this heavy double-bill while you can.

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Firebreather return with “Creed” – the new single from their upcoming album “Dwell in the Fog.”

Swedish trio Firebreather share a new track today from their forthcoming album Dwell In The Fog via Metal Injection. Hear and share “Creed” HERE. (Direct YouTube and Bandcamp.)

Revolver Magazine previously shared the first single “Kiss Of Your Blade” HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

Gothenburg, Sweden trio Firebreather’s 2019 RidingEasy Records debut album Under a Blood Moon was a powerhouse that most certainly established the band’s incendiary potential. But none of us would be prepared for the suffocating onslaught that is Dwell in the Fog. While that album was in-your-face and raw, Dwell in the Fog rumbles and rages with a fury the band had only hinted at previously. 
Firebreather has a streamlined focus on driving, symphonic riffs in the vein of High on Fire, Inter Arma and their tour- and label-mates Monolord. The guitar and bass tones are, quite simply, entrancing. Paired with vocalist/guitarist Mattias Nööjd’s guttural yet melodic howls and drummer Axel Wittbeck’s groove based rhythms, their entire sound flows like thick, viscous lava. 

“The album is a cathartic journey inwards and a musical continuation from Under A Blood Moon, but with more emphasis on groove and feel,” Nööjd says. From the first notes of album opener “Kiss Of Your Blade” you’ll know exactly what he means. 
Like their preceding two albums, Dwell in the Fog was also recorded and mixed by engineer Oskar Karlsson at Elementstudion in Gothenburg. The band is joined by new bassist Nicklas Hellqvist on this album, who seems to have increased the thunder rumble tenfold. 

From the aforementioned album opener “Kiss Of Your Blade”, with its droning opening chords over a rollicking tom pattern, the band quickly shifts gears into a head bobbing, serpentine riff with a transcendent melodic hook. Elsewhere, as on the title track and “Weather The Storm” rapid-fire hummable riffs come and go in an ever-shifting mass of devastating swirling churn. It’s like the band has such an endless supply of great hooks that to, ahem, dwell for too long on any one would undo their constantly building momentum. That they somehow give each song, and the album as a whole, a streamlined and cohesive, monolithic groove is testament to their skill. And, proof that the album must be absorbed in its entirety to experience the overwhelming swaying and lunging low end growl that drives the band’s most captivating work to date. 

Dwell in the Fog will be available on LP, CD and download on February 25th, 2022 via RidingEasy Records. 

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

If you’re already putting together a Halloween playlist, Firebreather’s “Closed Gate” awaits you.

“Firebreather veer towards roaring, High On Fire-esque sludge, and they’ve got the chops and the grit to pull this kind of thing off.” — Brooklyn Vegan

Swedish trio Firebreather share a new track from their forthcoming debut on RidingEasy Records, Under a Blood Moon. Hear and share “Closed Gate” via YouTube.

Brooklyn Vegan previously hosted the lead single “Dancing Flames” HERE.

Fire is what happens when a carbon based object is consumed by oxygen. That chemical reaction is fitting to the sound of Firebreather: The riffs are suffocating, the rhythms fast moving and all-consuming. It’s so blindingly and deafeningly monolithic, don’t be surprised to find yourself gasping for air while listening. The Gothenburg, Sweden trio has a streamlined focus on driving, symphonic riffs in the vein of High on Fire, Inter Arma and their tour- and label-mates Monolord. The guitar and bass tones are, quite simply, entrancing. Like watching flames engulf a forest, the billowing guitar tones are simultaneously beautiful and destructive, while the rhythms sway and lunge with vicious precision.

“It’s riff based, heavy as fuck, but with a groove to it,” explains vocalist/guitarist Mattias Nööjd, formerly of popular Swedish doom merchants Galvano. “We had gotten off a tour with Monolord in February of 2018 and by that time we had the song ‘Firebreather’ done,” but soon thereafter new drummer Axel Wittbeck joined the fold. “Once Axel had joined, it was like the flood gates opened,” says bassist Kyle Pitcher. “The rest of the album just came together.”

Under a Blood Moon was recorded at Elementstudion in Gothenburg with engineer Oskar Karlsson, who also recorded the band’s lauded 2017 self-titled debut on Suicide Records.

Album opener “Dancing Flames” sets the stage for the onslaught to come with a slinking, serpentine riff over slow churning rhythms. Nööjd’s hushed, gravelly vocals sink into the mix, more like a baritone guitar than a human voice. “Our Souls, They Burn” nicely exemplifies the band’s furious grind that makes even faster tempo songs sound impossibly heavy, like a slow motion stampede. Elsewhere, “We Bleed” perfectly sums up the band’s focus on the riff and groove, honing in on the power of hypnotic attrition. Closing epic, “The Siren” opens with lugubrious, slightly swinging drums and rumbling bass building tension over delay- and phaser-soaked guitar harmonics, until a massive, sliding riff crashes headlong into the proceedings. The song seems to cleverly shape shift across several harmonic and rhythmic parts, without losing the core groove underneath. A short pause for breath, then it’s off to the races with a galloping crescendo for succinct closure.

Under a Blood Moon will be available on LP, CD and download September 27th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records. Preorders are available HERE.

FIREBREATHER LIVE 2019: Sep 20 Gothenburg, SE @ Musikens Hus w/ Halshug Oct 01 Utrecht, NL @ De Helling * Oct 02 Brussels, BE @ Magasin 4 * Oct 03 Pratteln, CH @ Up In Smoke Festival * Oct 04 Reims, FR @ La Cartonnerie * Oct 05 Paris, FR @ Saturday Mud Fever Festival * Oct 07 Dortmund, DE @ Junkyard * Oct 08 Nuremberg, DE @ Z-Bau * Oct 09 Cologne, DE @ Helios 37 * Oct 10 Mainz, DE @ Schon Schon * Oct 11 Hamburg, DE @ Molotow * Oct 16 Oslo, NO @ John Dee * Oct 17 Gothenburg, SE @ Sticky Fingers * Oct 18 Malmo, SE @ Babel * Oct 23 Linkoping, SE @ The Crypt * Oct 24 Stockholm, SE @ Close Up Baten * Oct 25 Tampere, FI @ Olympia * Oct 26 Helsinki, FI @ Nosturi * * w/ Monolord

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