Review – Sibel Kutlucan
Breathe Carolina’s third full length album, Hell Is What You Make It is great for when you want to dance, but can’t quite bring yourself to listen to full on pop or dance anthem tracks…and you still require that bit of ‘rock’ in your music.

Breathe Carolina is an assemblage of power duo Kyle Even and David Schmitt hailing from Denver, and their styles and choices definitely create a bipolar sound. Combining an electro pop sound with synthesizers and screamo/crunk-core, mixed with ‘traditional’ rock guitars and drums, Breathe Carolina certainly is interesting to listen to. Personally, I think it’s fantastic!

My favourite track would have to be “Blackout”, the third track and the first single released off the album (definitely a good choice, it makes a fantastic teaser of what is to come!). Blackout has every element that makes Breathe Carolina so contagious; with their ‘dancey’-electro pop melodies and contagious lyrics you can’t help but move along and get caught up in the beat.

“Wooly”, is a fantastic track and not just because of the bipolar nature of Breathe Carolina is bursting through; like “Blackout”, “Wooly” has the same infectious quality and electro-pop synthesisers, but also the combination of clean and unclean vocals and the heightened screamo style combined with heavy guitars only enhances the dance element of the song. “Wooly” is truly worth a listen and I think it is Breathe Carolina at their finest.

“Gone so long”, I think is another gem, but for completely different reasons to some of the other stand out tracks on the record. Breathe Carolina really toned it down and explored a softer style to their trademark dance style. Though it certainly does have similar results to much of their other tracks, with its catchy vocals and beat, I think it goes much further. “Gone So Long” may be overlooked by some, but I certainly think it shows another side of Breathe Carolina and adds depth to the album.

Breathe Carolina had quite a record to beat after the release of their second full-length, Hello Fascination, which was extremely well received and definitely introduced audiences to a unique, fresh sound. Personally, I was kinda worried that Hell Is What You Make It just wouldn’t measure up. I’m glad to say my fears didn’t come true and Breathe Carolina did not disappoint with their brand spanking new album which is definitely worth a listen.

Hell Is What You Make It is Breathe Carolina’s best album to date and I certainly think they are only getting stronger and even more infectious.

Review – Sibel Kutlucan

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