Album Review: Confession - 'Can't Live, Can't Breathe'

The hype that has surrounded the debut EP from confession would rival that of any release within Australia this year which is somewhat surprising considering the amount of time they have been bashing about.  However, upon further inspection of the lineup is easy to see where such excitement stems from.  Containing some big names of the Australian hardcore community including former Aldinga Sharks football player Michael Crafter and former 50 lion’s guitarist Confession come with the intention to leave a mark of their own. The end product isn’t straight up hardcore but is definitely not metalcore and seems to sit teetering around the edges of both genres.   

Can’t live can’t breathe opens some decent slow mosh rolls sounding very much in the vein of For the Fallen dreams without the clear cut misery signals influences.  This is sure to get mosh shorts earning their keep and keeping the punters happy.  The chorus is surprisingly catchy and a lot more melodic than one would have suspected, but it definitely works well in this case. 

Let’s talk about sex will clearly be a crowd favourite showcasing some more than decent chords making up the chorus as well as Crafters new vocal range.  This allows Confession to further distance themselves from previous bands the members were involved in.   The lack of the constant chugging guitar movements which can become a bit monotonous so is a pleasant change, and makes for a much more interesting listen. 

It would be criminal not to mention the Frenzal Rhomb cover “ship of beers” that closes out the cd.   It’s always interesting to see when bands cover songs from differing genres as the results are often hit and miss but in this case the outcome is enjoyable and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.  Plus it has local Adelaide guru Dan Jones on drums so it was always bound to be decent 

Fantastic first release which definitely lives up to the hype albeit a little boring at some points.  Definitely worth checking out for anyone keen to see how crafter sounds post prom queen.    They killed it on the Sweat Fest tour so if you haven’t seen them yet have a gander on the MS tour in Feb.

01. Intro

02. Ice Ice Baby

03. Mirrors

04. Can’t Touch This

05. Pump Up the Jams

06. Let’s Talk About Sex

07. Bust a Move

08. Ship of Beers