Breakneck used to tread the very fine line between paying homage to NOFX and ripping them off – now they’ve matured into one of England’s most exciting young bands, throwing away the hackneyed skate punk for some truly innovative melodic hardcore. Impressively, they’ve avoided the trap most riff/solo-based bands fall into, that of letting their recorded sound become clogged due to the sheer amount of guitar lines colliding with each other, and have managed to come up with an EP that bursts with promise and vibrancy.
‘Ghosts’ is the standout track, a superbly energetic song that is as heavy and rhythmic as it is melodic. It burns with catchy riffs and the constantly duelling guitars that characterise ‘…Illusion’, and suggests that if they write an album’s worth of anthems like this one, they could take on the Americans at their own game. Breakneck‘s particular variety of punk rock owes as much to A Wilhelm Scream and Belvedere as anyone else, and the epic finale to ‘Judgement Day’, drenched in widescreen violins and more than a little melodrama, deserves to be belted out of the biggest of speakers.
Musically, they stray into practically pornographic territories with the amount of coruscating riffs and thudding drum fills on display. ‘My Fury’ and ‘If I Had Some Wings’ continue the relentless pace and keep things interesting by never remaining in the same place for any reasonable period of time – from frantic double time and huge choruses to tooth-melting beatdowns, Breakneck are that rarest of things, a hugely talented young band that can write decent songs without directly ripping anyone off. By no means are they perfect, but this EP is a fine introduction to a band that, given a year, should be sitting pretty atop the UK punk scene. If only all bands could be this ambitious and impressive.