First review of the split!!

Kataplexis/Breathe Knives – Split
No List Records

Kataplexis and Breathe Knives work like a tongue that has been split in two – both sides now black, green and very infected and stuck right into your soft pink ear with songs from one another ripping through your wax and tickling your brain. With this ten song release, the bands seem like a match made in heaven's cesspool. It's somewhat uncommon to see many split releases these days, with the recent Toxic Holocaust/Inepsy release being a reminder that it is still a product of interest for fans. Breathe Knives had the challenge here: as a band with programmed drums, the limb flaying chaos of Kataplaxis' rhythmic section is tough to duplicate. They do it well on “False Flag”, which has been given the pressure chamber treatment, adding avenues of depraved swagger to the Kataplexis track. “Steel Cheek vs Ice Cream Teeth” begins with a sample from Factotum about one of Bukowski's lays, "Jan was an excellent fuck...she had a tight pussy and she took it like it was a knife that was killing her.” - if not breathing them, why not? This, and the few other Breathe Knives tracks are music to crash your car by. Starting off innocently enough with a bouncing beat or telephone loop, they become ragged quick, as if the smooth part of the roller coaster has the track cut off. On to Kataplexis - “Fuckin Hostie”, “Rippin' Taco's”, “Cocksmoke”, and “Shitguy”are death/grind crunch that add moments of Andreas Kisser esque riffage into the fray – moving along at a break neck pace and never once slowing down to catch a breath. Although short, these songs have moments of ambiance and melody within the chaos. The Breathe Knives cover,“Rebreather” is particularly moody, with sampled chanting under the wasteland of dead rat floater infested sludge. The track brings to mind the Agoraphobic Nosebleed/Isis cover of “Boris” by the Melvins, and is the shining spot on the split. Both bands are notorious already and this adds to the growing legacy of both. Get it while you can.

Ryan Coke
Absolute Underground Magazine