Bullet Treatment – ex-Breathers

Bullet Treatment is something of a part-time hobby for artists in the punk community.  It’s where punks go to have a vacation from the stressors of conventional chorus-verse-chorus formulas and to vent their aggressions without judgment. The band has an open door approach to its roster, providing anyone from an established act the opportunity to re-live the glory days of 80’s hardcore punk.  Forty members and ten discs into the madness, the band’s latest incarnation features a cast of returning members who have ironically never set foot in the studio together before. 

The result is Ex-Breathers; a stampede of Black Flag inspired madness more violent than a midnight mob outside a Walmart on Black Friday.  Vultures United’s Jordan Salazar leads the assault with a raw, sonic battering of throaty bellows sure to leave others with bloody, swollen vocal chords.  As per the forty-second opener and title track, the band’s core follows suit, providing a crashing, thrashing soundtrack to an in-and-out smash and grab at your local mall.  Meanwhile, on tracks like “The Last time I Prayed” breakdowns crunch deeply in an incessant sludge that matches the band’s disgust over priest and Church scandals.  Fans of Think Fast Records acts like Outbreak or This Is Hell will know exactly what to expect out of every passing second.

After ten very consistent releases, Ex-Breathers is exactly what you’d expect from Bullet Treatment.  It’s fast, loud, and unapologetically simple.  At just over six-tracks in about the same number of minutes (the two bonus tracks tack on additional three), the EP plays mostly like a single song with slight variations in speed; and as someone who typically listens to 80’s hardcore in small doses, I’m just fine with that.  So while ex-breathers is nothing profound, it will certainly appeal to those looking for a quick fix.