Review: I The Breather- Truth and Purpose

Tracklist
1. False Prophet
2. The Beginning
3. Bruised & Broken
4. Mentalist
5. Meaning
6. Lunar
7. Knights & Pawns
8. Judgment
9. Raphaim
10. 4/12/11

In 2010, Baltimore, Maryland based band, I The Breather seemingly came out of nowhere to grab a spot on The Scream The Prayer Tour 2010, up until that point, I had never heard of the band, but that all changed in a big way. The band obviously impressed many others as well, as they were invited back the following year. Between the two stints on the STP tour, I The Breather released their Sumerian Records debut, These Are My Sins. The album was a strong sophomore effort, gaining the band many new fans of their August Burns Red meets Meshuggah technical metalcore sound.

On first listen, Truth and Purpose seems to combine the best of the bands previous material. The sound that was present on These Are My Sins is back in full-force, yet is more mature and seems less a product of their influences and more an organic sound formed by the band. The band does a great job of adding clean vocals in spots, something that was present on their self-titled EP, but unlike on the EP these don’t distract and add to the overall presentation of the music. I also commend the band for trying to step away from the djent styled guitar playing that dominated These Are My Sins, and that has become as overplayed in the metalcore scene as the overused open note breakdown, or the growled verse, clean chorus style of singing. Although not totally given up, the style is much more effective when used in small doses.

Lyrically, the band is pretty open about their christian faith, yet not too preachy or for that matter not too ambiguous. Oh Sleeper’s Micah Kinard makes a guest appearance on the song “Mentalist” adding a back and forth with vocalist Shawn Spann that is a thing of beauty. The album’s debut single, “Bruised & Broken” is also of note, yet the album is so good, that it doesn’t stand out as much as it did when it was released a few weeks ago.

Rating: 8/10. With Truth and Purpose, I The Breather have taken a step at fulfilling the promise that was hinted at on their breakout album These Are My Sins. Although not reinventing the wheel, the band has continued to grow and mature into a top-notch metalcore band, worthy of no longer being compared to their influences, standing on their own, having other’s compared to them.