Drifting Breed – Hope Hereafter
Self-released – 2005
By Katalin Sipos
The concise letter accompanying the CD described this as brutal metalcore from Paris, so initially I expected some ultra-heavy metalcore banging right into my head from the speakers. However, the promo CD I found in the packet has instead lots of melodies and other fascinating elements on it. The French band, originally named
No Way Out, was formed in 1999, and after some changes in the lineup, they took the name
Drifting Breed in 2001.
Hope Hereafter is the band’s first release, with songs written between 2002 and 2004.
Before giving a listen to the material, I skimmed through the press release and was shocked to read they used duduk on the recording. How come there’s an Armenian wind instrument on a “brutal metalcore” CD? I soon found the explanation in the intro: the short track is an acoustic duet of duduk and tribal drums. It quickly puts you into a mystical, oriental mood, but you’re soon awakened from your daydream by the recklessness of
’Hope Hereafter’. After a short percussion intro the French legion deliver their blow at full capacity. They play tight, strict metalcore, a mixture of energetic and brutal thrash, death metal, and dry, pure hardcore aggression. Their music is just as powerful and remorseless as that of
Cataract, Slayer or
Destruction – just to mention a few of the greatest names.
However, the songs of
Drifting Breed aren’t solely about “fatal metal blows”. The heavy metalcore basis is ornamented with melodic, acoustic, slower, more “musical” parts, making the band’s work rather unique. I could mention here the outro of
’Hope Hereafter’, but a better example would be the beginning of
’Almost a Stranger’, which could even have been written by a progressive, melodic death metal band. Of course, the epic mood is soon shattered by Nicolas’s hardcore shouts, so the song eventually goes in a heavier direction.
’Waste Game’ has a similar structure, while
’Some Reasons to Kill Me’ shows the hardest side of the band. It has gigantic thrash themes and death rhythms; however, the tempo is slowed down, so the heaviness becomes even more apparent. Still, the rhythmic pauses and Nicolas’s shouts leave you in no doubt about the hardcore feature either.
All in all, the most important thing is that the band has written good songs; you just like listening to their demo, even several times in a row. The musical skills of the members are of a high standard (although I’m sure they can still develop), and the varied songs easily hold the listener’s attention. One or two parts might be a bit too familiar but I didn’t really get bothered by them. The sound of the CD is pretty decent: it’s actually quite hard to believe that it’s “only” the band’s demo, as a number of LP’s have a much poorer mastering.
In short, I’m pleasantly surprised by
Hope Hereafter. I haven’t yet had the chance to listen to a really good French band, so it’s good to see that
Drifting Breed have a place on the international metal scene. They outshine quite a number of better promoted bands, especially in the swelling wave of today’s metalcore I’ve no idea about the potential of Overcome Records, but the guys surely deserve the attention of a label as prominent as, let’s say, Metal Blade. Although this demo is quite recent, I can hardly wait for the band’s LP, which will hopefully come out soon, too.
8/10
Official Drifting Breed website
