• southernlord.com

Black Breath
After releasing their debut LP, Heavy Breathing, in 2010, I (like every other metal fan in Seattle) have been anxiously awaiting the band's follow-up. But before they could get back in the studio, Black Breath had to spend the last year or so being everyone's favorite new band, touring the U.S. and Europe with bands like Converge, Coalesce, and Harvey Milk. But 2012 is the year our head-banging dreams come true! It was just announced that Black Breath's second full-length, Sentenced to Life will be out in March and a recent press release says the 10 tracks clock in in under 33 minutes. That makes it about 10 minutes shorter than their debut which can only mean the songs are even more blistering and brutal. Fans of the first full-length will also be happy to know that they, once again, recorded it at God City Studios (which is owned by Kurt Ballou of Converge). You might want to start stretching out and strengthening your neck muscles now, to avoid any serious injury this spring.

(Related: The one negative thing about a new Black Breath record is that this probably means a new Shook Ones record is even further away since Shook's guitarist, Funds, is also a Black Breather. Nope! Funds is no longer in Black Breath. Mr. Chris Rasmussen says Shook Ones even recently did some recording with Jackson Long, who recorded their last record The Unquotable A.M.H.. Good to know!

Previous "12 Local Bands I'm Excited for in 2012": Boom City, Grenades, and Special Explosion.