Review: “Unnerved” by Break Fifty

Originally known as Hace, Guilford Nu-Metalcore outfit Break Fifty have been on our radar for quite some time. They started out in 2017 playing a hybrid blend of Hardcore influenced Nu-Metal, cutting their love of a breakdown with classic late 90s elements. In 2019 they dropped the single “Gods” which has clocked up 83k of Spotify streams and a song which also landed a coveted spot on the Metal Hammer Magazine “March of the Maggots” Slipknot tribute compilation album as inspired by the 18 legged beast.

So where does that leave “Unnerved“? Well a trio of the songs have been around at least a year with accompanying music videos to build hype around the quartet so the EP isn’t entirely new but a compilation of material to formulate a debut. Opener “Skittish” is an eerie haunting Slipknot esq instrumental designed to be both slightly unnerving and slightly nauseating while also drawing you in for the first cut proper “Gods“. Frontman Hugo Knight has an early Slipknot esq Corey Taylor like vocal, blending unhinged spoken word pre-rap mumbles with solid unclean roars which has that sense of nostalgia for the darker side of the Nu-Metal era, while the meaty guitar tone has plenty of bounce. “Victimize” continues in the same vein with a similar sound to the one Blood Youth used for their album “Starve” but both heavier and darker as Knight rants and raves like he belongs in a straight jacket. “GBH” has a pre-industrial sound to it, minus the electronic enhancements it stops and starts with a decent groove and clanky bass opening. Sam Worsfold of Sunfall fame is a solid Metalcore or even Death Metal vocalist and brings added weight and gravitas to the track before the sinister churning of “The Broken” takes hold. A slower more powerful groove rolls up with the air of early Cane Hill riffage and there is the distinct sense that if Break Fifty were in the US instead of leafy Surrey then they would be big news, especially if they could land a cut as a theme song for a Wrestler on WWE. That song could be “The Pain“, which has that instant Mosh pit summoning riff while the electronics in the turn around sound like the approach of a torpedo on a submarines radar. Break Fifty might not be doing anything you haven’t necessarily heard before, but then they don’t need to because what they do do, the do well [7.5/10]

Track listing

1. Skittish
2. Gods
3. Victimize
4. GBH (ft. Sam Worsfold of Sunfall)
5. The Broken
6. The Pain

“Unnerved” by Break Fifty is out now