Source: Album Artwork
Just shy of a year and a half removed from their previous EP State Of Mind and Greyhaven have made their return in the form of new EP Breathe. It carries with it hints of the essence that allowed the band to make such a stamp with its predecessor – but generally tries to make its way into an out and out modern rock record.
While State Of Mind was a flowing mixture of styles – from elements of pop-punk to melodic metalcore; Breathe tends to follow the tracks of being an open wide hard rock EP that sets it sights on creating weighty, climactic set pieces with its tones.
The thick opening guitar lines of ‘Truth’ set the record on the tracks of being a sledge of hard-hitting modern rock, and Breathe tends to follow this pattern throughout. But as opposed some of Greyhaven’s previous work which held tremendous scale and size in its choruses; here the quintet never quite manage to hit the same level of height as they have previously.
Here Greyhaven have taken a stab at being a drop more unwavering and heavier in their structure, but this comes at the price of sacrificing a piece of their charm which had been so present in the band during State Of Mind. Only on ‘Breathe’ do the band fall back into place of being a rock band able to drop a gargantuan amount of hook with a real beating, thumping heart. Sadly ‘When We Divide’ and ‘Crows’ are your standard, haphazard nods to British rock bands such as Young Guns and As Lions which are dramatically short of personality and identity.
Breathe is an EP that has the correct mindset of trying to nail Greyhaven down into a particular genre – but its execution leaves a taste in your mouth that something is missing. As a whole it’s vocally weaker than the band’s former efforts, and while the EP certainly has its moments that hit with the right timing – overall Breathe is more bland, less charismatic four-song outing than we would come to expect from a band that seemingly had a bright future ahead of them. There’s plenty of time for the missing ingredients here to be added – but this record is best considered as a learning curve for Greyhaven.
