PLATINUM MOSH, VOL. II

THE TOP FIVE FAVORITE BREAKDOWNS AND MOSH PARTS OF DANNY KOPIJ (BORE), ANTHONY BROWN (LAST EMBRACE/DYING MIND), ANTHONY DAMBRIE OF THE PODIOSLAVE PODCAST, AND VINCE GUGLIELMI (PORTRAITS OF ANGER/NO ECHO/THE DAILY SNOB)

PHOTO CREDIT: EVGENIY SMERSH

Breakdowns and mosh parts: if you’re anything like me, your appetite for them is insatiable. As part of a running series, each Platinum Mosh installment brings together figures from the world of heavy music to share their absolute favorites, in top five format. On Volume I, I was joined by Monsters vocalist Frankie Pierri, Kyle Maddock and Dan Horn of Wounded Touch, and Ferret Music founder and NORA vocalist Carl Severson, plus I provided my own picks (you can read that here; further, you can read my interview with Frankie here and with Wounded Touch vocalist Nick Holland here).

Here on Volume II, I’m pleased to welcome Danny Kopij of Bore (you can read my interview with Danny here), Anthony Brown of Last Embrace and Dying Mind (you can read my interview with Anthony about Last Embrace here and with Dying Mind’s vocalist here), another Anthony—Dambrie, of the hit Podioslave podcast—and Vince Guglielmi, who writes for No Echo, has his own column The Daily Snob, and plays guitar for Portraits of Anger.

Here we go!

Danny Kopij

1. Implosive Disgorgence-“Chapter 2”: I’ve been trying to write a breakdown as reckless as this since I first heard it as a teenager. Implosive Disgorgence was always criminally underrated and the Chapters EP from 2005 is still one of my favorite slam/death metal releases of all time. “Chapter 2”—with “Chapter 1” as a close second—is my favorite breakdown of all time by a mile.

2. Converge-“The Saddest Day”: Over 20 years since I first heard this song and that speed up breakdown still makes me want to headwalk then run through a wall.

3. Disembodied-“Anvil Chandelier”: One of the hardest song intros, album intros, set openers, etc. ever written. Disembodied—and later Martyr AD—always walked that line between riffs that get stuck in your head and make you nod your head, and pure instigations of violence.

4. The Partisan Turbine-“Inertia”: I have a bias here because the guitarist is my childhood best friend, but I remember when they first wrote this and thinking that they unlocked some ultraviolence cheat code. All of Surgical Assault goes very hard, but the breakdown to “Inertia” is legendary in my mind. Got to see them at a reunion show this past July and the place erupted—as it should’ve—when it got to that ending.

5. Norma Jean-“Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste”: This is a gold standard of good songwriting and impeccable transitions making an already heavy breakdown absolutely fucking legendary. The slow down part right into the “doing the waltz with your murderer” breakdown is still a highwater mark of the genre for me. This one might be obvious or a cop out, but there's a reason it's almost 25 years later and Bless The Martyr is still a beloved record.

Honorable Mentions

Evergreen Terrance-“No Donnie, These Men Are Nihilists”: This was my introduction into 2000s metalcore. We covered “No Donnie” in three of my teenage bands—where I played a different instrument in each one, so essentially ended up learning how to play the song on every instrument. An absolute staple of the genre and an iconic breakdown.

Revenance-“Somebody Kill Something”: Another underrated slam/DM band, another underrated Long Island heavyweight band. Revenance Omen of Tragedy—the record this song is off of—and the 2007 Demo are unfuckwithable.

Anthony Brown

Hey, I’m Anthony, and I am the vocalist of Last Embrace, and bassist of Dying Mind. As a proud provider of breakdowns, I’m more than happy to share my picks for Top 5. Fair warning, if you ask me a week from now it would probably be completely different! That being said, as of this writing they are:

Earth Crisis-“Gomorrah’s Season Ends”: I’m specifically talking about the end, but the one at 2:18 goes insane, too. In my opinion, it’s the finest breakdown in their entire discography. I think when a breakdown has an iconic lyric over the top that the entire crowd can chant in unison, it just elevates it that much more. I always look forward to this when seeing them even more than “Firestorm.”

Every Time I Die-“Cities and Years”: Let the record show, I had 5 different ETID songs and put them into a random generator to pick. The other choices were “Floater,” “Underwater Bimbos,” “Moor,” and “Idiot.” This song has one of my favorite ETID memories, though. I saw them in Portland, Maine one time with Motionless in White, and when they played this I used a few MIW fans’ heads as a stepladder to yell the lyrics into Keith’s face. They were upset. 

Foundation-“Devotion III”: Going back to the “iconic lyric” point I made earlier, this whole breakdown is prefaced by one of the most iconic lines in 21st century hardcore. Seeing it live is always fun, too, when they slow it down. Plus, a GOOD panic chord breakdown is always sick. 

Harms Way-“Breeding Grounds”: I first got into Harms Way when Rust was coming out, so I had to go back to discover their earlier tracks. Once I cemented myself as a fan, I went back to Isolation and it quickly became my favorite HW record. I love when a breakdown isn’t just chugs, but actually has a sick riff with it. It just shows the talent that Bo had, and the talent we will miss. Plus, Dying Mind literally covers this, so it’d be kind of fucked to not include it! 

Gods Hate-“Finish the Job” (both breakdowns): I wanted to make sure to include a modern breakdown, as you can’t strictly rely on the past. I’d argue this is the hardest breakdown(s) of the 2020s. That title almost went to “Hate Today…Die Tomorrow” by Never Ending Game. It was neck and neck, but Gods Hate just had more reach. The breakdown leading into a second, harder breakdown? Legendary shit. It 110 percent influenced Last Embrace to do the same thing with “Hope to Die” off our demo. 

Honorable Mentions: “Raining Blood,” “Domination,” “Davidian,” “Propaganda,” “Firestorm,” “New York City,” “Blistered,” “The Saddest Day,” “Tower of Snakes,” etc.

Obviously any one of these could have been on the list, and probably should have, but I wanted slightly lesser talked about ones to shine a bit. 

Left field breakdown: Judas Priest-“All Guns Blazing”: It happens twice in the song, but the ending one breaks it down a little bit more. It would literally fit in a modern song perfectly. 

Left field mosh part: Anthrax-“Indians” War Dance two step (2:33-3:02): Anthrax, known superfans of NYHC, have an ample amount of HC leaning riffs in their music, but the War Dance part in “Indians” would absolutely decimate a modern festival dance floor. 

Anthony Dambrie // Podioslave Podcast

These are in no order.

Strife–“Blistered”: A tried-and-true classic. It’s got the buildup, it’s got the all-time snare sound, and then the vocals come in. This is always the first breakdown that comes to mind when I think of the all-time greats. It’s just perfect.

Hatebreed–“Beholder of Justice”: So many good Hatebreed breakdowns, but “Beholder of Justice” takes the cake. It has the heaviest drop of any breakdown I’ve ever heard, kicked off by the drums. Another one in the mix from Hatebreed is the breakdown in “A Call for Blood.”

Blacklisted–“Eye for an Eye”: Admittedly not the heaviest breakdown, but a personal favorite of mine—mostly due to the insane buildup. This is one that you really need to see live to get the full experience. Here’s a live video I took back in the mid-2000s.

Machine Head – “Davidian”: This is always on everyone’s best/favorite breakdowns list; however, it deserves all the credit it gets. I love the break in sound before it comes in, the tempo is perfect, the production is on point—I could go on and on. First-ballot Hall of Fame breakdown.

Blood for Blood – “Revenge on Society”: Another example of how the buildup is as important as the breakdown itself. Rob’s isolated vocals lead into the breakdown, and it hits me every time. Perfect guitar tone, vocals on top, then the pick scrape—all-timer!

Vince Guglielmi

Cro-Mags-“World Peace”: Goated 80s mosh riff. Some people say “It’s the Limit” or “Apocalypse Now” are the Mags picks, but the gang vocals on “World Peace” go too hard. 

Harms Way-“Breeding Grounds”: I remember randomly downloading Isolation when it came out, stumbling onto this song, and running upstairs to show my roommates. That’s when I knew I was gonna be a hardcore kid forever. RIP Bo. 

Day of Suffering-“Shades of Red”: Here’s another one where THE DoS pick is probably “Elegy,” but the shuffle/bounce into the breakdown on this makes me lose it every time. I’m more of a pickin’ up change guy than a spin-kicker, so that might explain some of these picks. 

Hatebreed-“Before Dishonor”: We put this on during a drive recently and I thought I was gonna catch a spin kick in the car. MKUltra mosh activation music and a really creative, innovative part for the time. 

Saves the Day-“Banned From the Back Porch”: If you’ve never done it before, get in your car and listen to Through Being Cool front to back. Then when this track comes on try not to drive 40mph over the speed limit. Impossible. It’s gotta be one of the craziest punk songs ever written and this riff is where the madness begins. 

Honorable Mentions:

Morbid Angel-“Chapel of Ghouls”

Infest-“Where’s The Unity?”

The Rival Mob-“Intro Grunt”

Crowbar-“All I Had (I Gave)”

C4-“Carved in Blood”

All Out War-“Resist”

All Out War-“Soaked in Torment”