REVIEW: Catch Your Breath - Not Broken Enough

Following an unstoppable summer that saw fans colliding full-pelt in mosh pits, CATCH YOUR BREATH is clearly not a suggestion for the unrelenting Texan band nor their frenzied crowds, but a name to remember and chant at the top of your breathless lungs. Having already gained momentum over the last few years, the four-piece are about to catapult themselves to stratospheric heights with the release of their stunning album Not Broken Enough, an 11-track record that sees the band approach with their familiar vivacity whilst bringing extra layers of emotion and ferocity that refine their sound.

Undoubtedly an emotionally charged album, Not Broken Enough almost feels as if we’re intruding on the expressive feelings poured into the gut-wrenching lyrics that plead to unseen subjects and impressively explosive instrumentals. Instead, CATCH YOUR BREATH invites us in to feel this with them, to connect on a level of “brokenness” and ultimately pass the torch of this album onto us, letting it become our own emotional outlet.

Opening with an ethereal intro of a tape played in reverse, Contaminated drops into vocalist Josh Mowery lamenting that things can’t be changed but begging the subject “don’t run away”, an electro-beat melding into a thunderous beat from Onell Hernandez as Mowery layers raw pitches with high notes, muffled vocal screams of “we’re contaminated” echoing in a progressive breakdown that feels akin to BAD OMENS more dramatic tracks. Red Alert leans more into the core instrumentals with crashing beats, gothic synths, and a bassline from Cianan Madigan hammering into the core of the rhythm, the entire pitch descending down as coarse screams flood through. Blood Money drops into pure metalcore with guitarist Teddy Herrera flexing the strings to piercing notes that SPIRITBOX fans will appreciate as Mowery attacks with guttural screams and acidic lyrics, before a breakdown that sounds like he’s channeling Joe Bad’s notorious growls.

Carnivore has a sensual drumbeat and a deliciously wicked rhythm that juxtaposes the lyrics “So when you fall apart, don’t come to me / Don’t beg or plead, you asked for this”, the biting tone almost sneering at having been underestimated, a mistake that won’t be repeated. The first track to be teased before album release, Control still hits hard with barely restrained verses that unleash into searing breakdowns, Mowery’s voice becoming steadily more desperate as he gives more of himself to someone who won’t reciprocate the emotion. Rewind has a stripped back intro that ignites into a roar of instruments and subtle low harmonies, minor chords breaking through to give a devastating feel to the track as it swings from reminiscing of a relationship lost to wishing it had never happened, a piano medley adding to the sorrowful tune against a backdrop of fading calls. 

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Lost is an almost instant change of heart and becomes both an attempt to be stoic and not reveal how much Mowery is wounded, and a yearning plea of “Can we go back when it was us two / Lay inside a bed and hold you close, before you let me go”, capturing the feeling of helplessness and identity loss against deafening, hardened instruments that feel like drowning. Dark begins to take on a self-aware tone amidst the heartbreak as the lyrics shifting to an understanding that this was needed even if unwanted, Herrera’s riffs punctuating through in a push pull motion as the tone shifts. Taking on a more cinematic tone that echoes ICE NINE KILLS sweeping rhythms, The Basement is a progression in this story of heartbreak as it reaches a new understanding of one-sided love and being taken for granted, culminating in a lone scream that raises goosebumps before the instruments thrash together once more.

[Gen]inside fades in softly before a scream shatters the calm and leads us into a melody of soaring notes and pulverising beats, Mowery utilising his primal growls as Kemi Kehoe harmonises between clean and gritty vocals, the album title repeating in the guttural screams. Seeing us out with another reversed sound effect intro in a full circle moment to the album’s beginnings, Hollow Dreams is a full-body sigh of relief and closure to Not Broken Enough as it combines thumping metalcore beats with high vocal pitches and heavenly synths, a brief moment of Mowery alone descending into belting strings, not necessarily moved on from the emotional onslaught but leaving you with the sense that you can start to heal, and start to breathe again.

Score: 8/10

Not Broken Enough will be released on 28th August 2026 via Thriller Records.

Words: Julia Stark

Photos: Catch Your Breath