Review / 200 Words Or Less
Catch Your Breath
Life & Sounds

Dismantle (2008) Michael

Catch Your Breath – Life & Sounds cover artwork
Catch Your Breath – Life & Sounds — Dismantle, 2008

Catch Your Breath is an upstart hardcore group from the greater Los Angeles area. I couldn't find much background info on the band, so I'm assuming this is their first venture as a group.

Life & Sounds is eight songs in twelve minutes. Musically the band plays fast-paced hardcore with a dash of the rock and roll similar to The Suicide File. Guitarists Shane Spalione and Niko Doerschel alternate between angular riffings and intricate melodies. The vocals are shouted in a slightly coarse manner, though not in a manner to overshadow the music.

For the most part, this is a solid release. The band isn't following the current trends, which I like. Unfortunately a lot of the songs are really really short and could be developed a bit more into some really awesome tracks. The potential for a really good band is there; keeping tabs on Catch Your Breath is a good idea.

6.5 / 10Michael • August 3, 2008

Catch Your Breath – Life & Sounds cover artwork
Catch Your Breath – Life & Sounds — Dismantle, 2008

Recently-posted album reviews

Sahan Jayasuriya

Don’t Say Please: The Oral History of Die Kreuzen
Feral House (2026)

For those of us who spent the mid-to-late 1980s navigating basement community halls, churches, and loveable, armpit-smelling dive bars, the name Die Kreuzen was a permanent fixture on the punk rock radar. They were the sound of the Midwest underground --too fast for the goths to do their spooky Bela Lugosi "shoo the bats away" interpretive dance, too technical for … Read more

Sewer Urchin

Global Urination
Independent (2025)

There’s a fine line between crossover thrash that feels dangerous and crossover thrash that just feels like a party. Global Urination doesn’t bother choosing because it does both loudly and without apology. St. Louis’ Sewer Urchin have been grinding since 2019, and on their latest full length they double down on everything that makes the genre work. They give us … Read more

Ingested

Denigration
Metal Blade (2026)

For a band that built its name on sheer brutality, Ingested have spent the last several years refining what that brutality actually means. With their newest release, Denigration, the band finds that continuing evolution. They’re still punishing, still precise, but noticeably more controlled and deliberate in how it all lands. From the outset, the record makes its intentions clear. “Dragged … Read more