Breach was a Swedish

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band formed in

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

in 1993. The band, which included a large line-up near the end of its existence, is noted for its highly distinctive style, combining elements of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

, indie-rock,

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

, and

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

in a way that set it apart from many of its peers and was greatly influential in underground music circles. They issued 4 full-length albums through

Burning Heart Records Burning Heart Records is an independent record label formed in 1993 in Fagersta, Sweden, and currently based in Örebro. It has a close affiliation with Californian label Epitaph Records, who own the rights to distribute Burning Heart's output ...

and a slew of EPs through a variety of labels before officially breaking up in 2002. Since their split, the group has performed one reunion show in 2007.

History

The band was formed in Luleå in 1993. ''Friction'', their debut album was recorded at Stockholm's Sunlight Studios with engineer

Fred Estby Fred Estby (born 14 March 1972) is a Swedish musician. He is best known as the drummer and main songwriter of the Swedish death metal band Dismember. Before he played drums in the band Carnage. Estby appeared in various other projects includin ...

and released in 1995. Pelle Gunnerfeldt from Fireside recorded and mixed most of the group's subsequent albums. In 1996, the band toured Europe for the first time in support of

Refused Refused (also known as the Refused) is a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå and formed in 1991. Refused is composed of vocalist Dennis Lyxzén, guitarist Kristofer Steen, drummer David Sandström, and bassist Magnus Flagge. Guita ...

. The tour was a great success and helped establish the band, notably in Scandinavia. Their real breakthrough came with the release of the album ''It's Me God'' (1997), which earned them an opening slot in European tour with

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

and Entombed. The album was released in the United States the following year and again, in 2000 by Metal Blade. Their next album, ''Venom'' (1999) was premiered at a sold-out show at Kafe 44 in Stockholm at which they debuted their two-drummer live show. The album was released by

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The ...

in the United States. After a tour of summer festivals, the band embarked in their third European headlining tour in the fall of 1999. Shortly after the release of ''Kollapse'' (2001), Breach announced that they had decided to split up. Vocalist Tomas Hallbom explained that while there were many factors into the group's break-up, the primary reason for their split was caused by the lack of agreements made within the band's expansive seven-member line-up. The band played a reunion show in Stockholm on 6 December 2007 and ended the show by destroying all their instruments, leading fans to speculate that this would be the band's final show.

Musical style

Breach started as a metal-influenced hardcore band in the vein of Revelation Records and

Victory Records Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thu ...

acts of the period (their early sets included a cover of Inside Out). From the mid-1990s onwards, the band started to showcase a wider range of influences, name-checking

, Swedish death metal,

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1987. Since 2004, the band's lineup consists of founding members Jens Kidman (lead vocals) and Fredrik Thordendal (lead guitar), alongside rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, drumm ...

Shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female Kerria lacca, lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. Chemically, it is mainly composed of aleuritic acid, jalaric acid, shellolic acid, and other natural waxes. It is processed and s ...

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas by vocalist David Yow, guitarist Duane Denison and bassist David Wm. Sims. They relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1989, where they found kindred spirits in ...

, etc. Their overall sound tended to be a lot rawer and unruly than that of most modern post-hardcore bands, owing much to the band's connection to the Swedish indie-rock scene of the era and their proximity to older bands such as The Bear Quartet. Their ambitious last album ''Kollapse'' (2001) includes a broader array of instruments (drum machines, various percussions, synthesizers) and ranges from high-velocity rocking hardcore, apocalyptic wall-of-sound sludge metal, dissonant solo guitar interludes, angular noise-rock, and epic post-rock instrumentals echoing

Tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

and The For Carnation. Critics seem to have missed most of the band's idiosyncrasies, often reducing the band to their post-metal and heavy tendencies. Steve Huey compared the band's sound to the "difficult-to-classify hardcore/metal hybrids on the

label." Stephen Hill of ''Louder Sound'' described the band's style as " Unsane or Prong with more expansive flourishes" as well as name their 2000 album ''Venom'' as an underrated release within the European hardcore scene. ''Kollapse'' was named "a masterpiece in the violent birth of

post-metal Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal music, heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis (band), Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture (music), te ...

" on pinpointmusic.com.

Band members

;Final line-up *Tomas Hallbom (Vocals) *Anders Ekström (Guitar) *Niklas Quintana (Guitar) *Johan Gustafsson (Bass) *Tomas Turunen (Drums) *Per Nordmark (Drums) ;Former members *Magnus Höggren (Bass) *Kalle Nyman (Bass) *Jejo Perkovic (Drums) *Janne Westerberg (Drums) *Erik Carlsson (Guitar) *Kristian Andersson (Bass)

Discography

;Studio albums *''Friction'' (27 October 1995, Burning Heart) *''It's Me God'' (28 April 1997, Burning Heart) *''Venom'' (17 May 1999, Burning Heart) *''Kollapse'' (3 December 2001, Burning Heart) ;Singles and EPs *''Outlines'' CDEP (1 June 1994, Burning Heart) *''Untitled'' 7" (1996, Chapel Hill) *''Old Songs vs. New Beats'' CDEP (1 June 1996, Burning Heart) *''6-Song Split CD'' split CDEP with Regression (17 April 1997, Burning Heart/Good Life) *''Amen/Last Rites'' 7" (1 January 1999, Trust No One) *''Godbox'' 12"/CDEP (2002, Chrome Saint Mangus)

References

External links

Burningheart Breach pageRelapse Records Breach Page

Interview with Niklas Quintana after the last show
{{Authority control Post-hardcore groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Musical groups reestablished in 2007 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Swedish heavy metal musical groups Burning Heart Records artists Relapse Records artists 1993 establishments in Sweden Good Life Recordings artists Musical groups from Norrbotten County Culture in Luleå 20th-century establishments in Norrbotten County