The enigmatic quartet of Low Before the Breeze, founded in 2021 in Atlanta, was born from the shared vision of Jonathan Balsamo and Andrew Spann. The band weaves a blend of chaos and melancholy, a despair infused soundscape where screamo and emoviolence collides with the abyssal whispers of black metal.
Their latest offering, the aptly titled “It Kindly Bent Around Me“, is a three-track EP that delves deeper into the void than ever before.
Released on August 30, 2024, this creation is a harbinger of torment, capturing the evolution of a band that refuses to be confined by the boundaries of genre. The EP opens with “Apophenia,” a track that thrusts the listener into a maelstrom of black metal fury.
The guitars, wielded by Jonathan Kemp and Andrew Spann, scream with a ferocity that borders on the apocalyptic, while Balsamo’s drums thunder like the march of a vengeful deity.
“Millenarian” follows, dragging the audience through a dystopian landscape where electronics and experimentation intertwine with the raw aggression of blackened screamo.
Yet, it is “Esplame” that stands as the EP’s most harrowing offering—a dirge that balances melody with an all-encompassing weight, as if the very fabric of reality is being torn asunder.
This EP is an invocation. It calls upon the spirits of the defunct and forgotten, with physical copies including tracks from the elusive and out-of-print split, That Which Still Aches, once shared with the now-dead LESS DEAD.
Mastered by Spann himself, the EP is a testament to the band’s uncompromising vision, brought to life in the eerie confines of Sobek Sound, Moo Moo Studios, and West End Studios.
As Low Before the Breeze carve their path through the void, the members—Balsamo, Spann, Kemp, and the newly joined bassist Dennis Maganda—stand united. Their journey through “It Kindly Bent Around Me” is one of desolation, yet it offers a glimmer of release—an embrace of the void.
Get your tape at Gallow Dance Records or directly on Bandcamp.
