We never seem to stop providing you with fresh, vibrant talent from a grip of genres within heavy music, and today is no different. Flying in hot and ready to sook out some juicy eyeballs are the carrion-core Canucks Vultures – we’re debuting the latest single from their sophomore EP, “Bitter Breath”. Lifted from Hunger – a dynamite little release that hardcore and metalcore (old kind, sorry August Burns Red fans) fans both should find pleasingly riffy and catchy – the track might be the least direct representation of the band’s sound, but it still finds the time and space to be deceptively heavy.
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“Bitter Breath” takes a little from the band’s fellow countrymen Cancer Bats and twists and shakes it with a double shot of Buffalo’s Every Time I Die, with the drum and vocal break during the track’s first act particularly reminiscent of ETID. Vultures’ influences aren’t as directly present as I might be making them out, but years of being fans of the likes of those two bands have obviously helped this band find their voice in ‘core adjacent music. As the longest track on Hunger, “Bitter Breath” has more room for the band to move around and show off their skills as songwriters, on top of being able to write crunchy, jagged riffs. It’s a testament to their youth and vigour that they deserve these kinds of comparisons. Drummer Graham Scanlon had this to say about the track:
“Bitter Breath is Hunger’s resident slow-burner track. We would describe it as pensive, melancholy, and coarse, though like any artistic medium that will be subject to personal interpretation. This track represents a compositional intermission in forgoing the more chaotic sonic elements present within its EP counterparts, instead emphasising a more minimalistic quality of instrumental delivery influenced by acts like Defeater. Bitter Breath was something of a unique songwriting experience for us in terms of how it utilizes reprise and motif, and the track also saw significant compositional input from producer Tim Creviston, who can be credited with really bringing this track to life. We chose this song as our third single as we believe it embodies a musical quality that acts as a strong counterpoint to the existing singles, and demonstrates our approach to a slower and more emotive form of hardcore.”
I literally couldn’t have said it any better myself, Graham. Vultures go on a pretty extensive West Coast NA tour in support of Hunger‘s release (October 4th, get it here, fools) and you can find all of the dates here. Look ’em up, check ’em out, buy their shit.