Murder Kings and Killer Queens
The rebirth of Breach’s “Kollapse”

– A love letter of sorts by Ralph Planks (with more words of adoration by Mike Hill/Tombs) –

”I have the official OK from Epitaph to do a Vinyl print of “Kollapse’”…was probably the most thrilling sentence I received in an Email this year. My friend Maik from Apocaplexy Records did the impossible and really pulled off something big. He and I share a common love for this band called Breach and it all comes down to this dream: “Kollapse”, the bands infamous last record, on Vinyl. A thing that was not done but demanded by a lot of people for a long time. In my case a ten year old dream. After the accomplishment of bringing “Godbox” (the bands second to last output) on vinyl last year, he set out for the ultimate task and won. “Kollapse” will see a first-ever vinyl release today, April 18th of 2013. [Find details at the end of the article.] First, let me guide you through the record that changed my reception of heavy music forever:

There comes one record, in every genre of music you engulf in, that will define and accumulate all the factors you love about this brand. Sometimes it will take the test of time to tell, some records just hit you straight in the face and heart at the same time and you just know. I remember when I first heard Joy Division after being in love with sad pop songs for years. I knew it was love and will last forever. The same happened when I first laid ears upon the thing that is “Kollapse”. Breach have been a favorite of mine for a while around the Millennium. They combined the right elements of (heavy) music to create an atmosphere unlike any other band I ever had the pleasure to know. You can see a full-on report of my heartbeats towards them here!

Breach came and outgrew the Swedish hardcore scene alongside bands such as Refused and Abhinanda. The Burning Heart label released mostly Skatepunk and / or mediocre hardcore bands. They got distributed by Epitaph Records worldwide, which made sense looking at the rosters they had. But some bands just fell behind, as they were not the right type of band for those labels. When “Kollapse” came out I wasn’t even aware it existed or was about to be released. I heard one song, mostly by accident, on a free sampler coming with a big player music magazine I read by that time. ”Lost Crew” came as stunning surprise on that CD, inbetween bands that were hip around that time. Remember, this was before the time bands posted studio reports on Facebook or Twitter. So there I stood, cleaning the kitchen and the song kicked in. I literally dropped sponge and detergent to run back to my room and check if I was correct. I hadn’t checked the tracklist before, but the sounds were just to distinguishly Breach. I ended up playing that song like 30times back to back until my roommate came home. He asked me why the kitchen was only half done and a spilled over bucket of water on the floor. (no joke!). I awoke from a hypnotic state and was super ecstatic. (Btw.: I did clean the kitchen that night, in case you wonder). Next day I drove around until I found a tiny store that sold the CD. To get a hold of the record on Vinyl I didn’t even bother, because it was always hard to get outside of shows.

The CD ran for days straight. I can honestly say, it was the last time I spent almost one day doing nothing but listen to a record. It had everything. And that is the essence of its immortality for me: The mixture. From song to song a different layer, a different method and a different approach. Yet it was all one blend of ingenuity. Let’s go through the record track by track:

‘Big Strong Boss’

A dreamy, hypnotic 5:30 instrumental start-up to a ride through heaviness and gloom. A very repetitive and almost tribal scheme underlies this track with settle nuances. It shows the classic Breach approach of variations and layers upon the same basic set which captures you immediately.

‘Old Ass Player’

After being cozy, dreamy and tender after the first song the song hits like a ten ton hammer. Fast guitars on a rhythmic drum section. The vocals seem almost insane at some point in the song.

‘Sphincter Ani / Alarma’

These two tracks flow into each other. The first is a guitar-only interlude after the massive ‘Old Ass Player’. After 1:20 it shifts the mood into the darkest part of the record. “Alarma” is my personal favorite track of the record. After the initial chords, when the drums kick in, it feels like the world crashes come down in that very instant. It takes almost the whole song until only a few vocals lines are added which gives the whole song even more depth and drama.

‘Lost Crew’

This is the song I spoke of earlier. In the first minute it’s hard to believe this is still Breach. An almost ‘punkish’ version of Breach shifts upon the same drumbeat the whole song. It’s really catchy and flows in the “Venom” direction of earlier Breach. The definitive ‘Hit’ of the record.

‘Teeth Out’

After this almost melodic ‘Hit’ of a song Breach show what they can do best: surprise. “Teeth Out” is almost nine minutes long. An instrumental song with all sots of sounds and instruments. It’s really quiet and reduced until it shifts into something very Isis after 5 minutes. I maybe wrong, but I’m sure this had an influence on Isis, too. My friend Mike Hill/Tombs (who’s words on the record will follow later on) told me that Isis were fans of Breach too.

‘Breathing Dust’

The second of only three heavy hitters on this album. This has a very Swedish sound. It’s fast without sounding punk or hardcore. It’s more later Entombed or Turbonegro without being lazy death rock. The drum part starting at 1:20 and the ending to the song are so good and are always an influence on what I want to do with Planks – but it’s just not to be beaten.

‘Mr.Marshall’

If you hear a guy in a serious band howling like a wolf, would you still think they are serious? Well, try this one. It reflects the weirdness underlying ‘Kollapse’. This also reflects in the up’s and down’s in volume within this song. When the keys set in at 2:20 I still get goosebumps after all these years.
If you payed close attention to the record until now, you might find that the drums only seem to have kick, snare, hi-hat and one cymbal – as it all is so reduced and effective to the max.

‘Seven’

Boom, and another total shift. The most quiet track on the record. Super beautiful and dreamy.

‘Murder Kings and Killer Queens’

Maybe the heaviest song on the record. An absolute wrecking ball. Two minutes of death on two wheels. Hell comes riding and a real anthem.

‘Kollapse’

After a real uptempo crack this last track brings another close to nine minute instrumental. What an end this is. The next time you are on a long night drive home and are alone in the car, take this song and let it carry you home. A worthy closure to this epic album.

But….there is one more song! I haven’t had the pleasure of listening to it yet. I don’t even know its name. But it will be on the before mentioned Vinyl re-release of the album. It was on a lost tape and found while checking to be remasters – now it is mixed and mastered exclusively for this reissue only!

Now I already talked enough about how much this record means to me. I asked my friend Mike Hill from Tombs to share his view on “Kollapse” as well. Here is what he had to say:

It was the winter of 2004 and I was on tour in Europe with my band Anodyne. We were travelling with the German band Llynch and Bernd from Stack was driving the van. At some point, we took a break from listening to obscure D-Beat bands that all sounded the same and someone put on “Kollapse” by a band called Breach. Back in the States, I had only heard of them, the name seemed familiar, but I had never actually heard their music.

It was one of those moments; the cold hours of driving across Europe, the boredom and emotional malaise of a long tour, and this amazing, intense music all coalescing into one experience. I was hooked, I wondered why I had never taken the time to listen to them before. It had a distinctly “European Vibe” which is hard to define. I don’t think an American band could’ve sounded like this. The beautifully delicate “Big Strong Boss” leading into the intensity of “Old Ass Player” fit perfectly with the cold, grey, bleakness of Germany, a land generally bereft of smiles. My favorite moment on the record was the “Alarma” / “Lost Crew” transition. They were doing what I wanted to do, musically, at the time.

Though, Breach was never a household name in the States, they definitely reached a fair amount of people that went on to form notable bands. I’ve spoken in depth to Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Gloom, Mamiffer) and we’ve both proclaimed our love for them. Personally, European metal, hardcore and post-punk has been a direct influence of me. Though I love the other Breach records (Venom, It’s Me God etc), it’s “Kollapse” that gets the most spins.

Mike and I often talked about the record and how much it means to us. I can only stress again how good and unique this record is. To get the thing on CD is already a thing almost impossible, but as mentioned before it was never released on Vinyl. I know a bunch of people that do bootlegs, but even they didn’t dare to try it. Maik Apocaplexy, being a fan as big as I am, took the high road and invested two years, hours on the phone and writing emails, to achieve the impossible: He got Epitaph Records, the big US player, to agree to a 500 copy press of one time only! And that’s that…500 pieces of wax, not more, not ever. 100 on clear wax, 400 on black. (You never know, but for now the license says only once and only 500). The album will contain the 11 original tracks plus the one found while transferring the old tapes. All songs have been remastered by Karl Daniel Liden (karldanielliden.com). Pierre Johannson, a friend of the band and responsible for some original Breach artwork, did the adapted artwork for the 2xLP gatefold release. (he also did the “Godbox” re-release LP as well as the “Planks / Lentic Waters split). Both LPs are cut on 45rpm 180gr Vinyl. The gatefold artwork will be on 350gr silver screened heavy jackets with UV-spot lacquer!

Finally this thing of infinite beauty gets a rebirth in a shape it deserved all those years. If you want to get a copy, be quick and head over to www.apocaplexy.bigcartel.com right now. You know you really want to have this!