Catch Your Breath – Not Broken Enough (Album Review)

Released date: August 28th 2026

Record Label: Thriller Records.

SCORE: RRR½ 3.5/5

There is certainly no shortage of bands navigating the increasingly crowded space between modern metal, alternative rock and emotionally charged post-hardcore. CATCH YOUR BREATH, however, have spent the last few years proving that they know exactly how to make that formula connect.

The Austin, Texas four-piece — Josh Mowery on vocals, Teddy Herrera on guitar, Cianan Madigan on bass and Onell Hernandez on drums — have seen their profile rise dramatically since Dial Tone pushed beyond 100 million streams. Tours alongside FALLING IN REVERSE, ICE NINE KILLS, BREAKING BENJAMIN, NOTHING MORE and THREE DAYS GRACE have followed, as have appearances at festivals including Download, Sonic Temple and Nova Rock. Their second album, Not Broken Enough, feels very much like a band attempting to turn that momentum into something bigger.

At its core, this is a record about relationships falling apart and everything left behind in the wreckage. Anger, regret, dependency and eventual acceptance run throughout its 11 tracks, giving the album a surprisingly clear emotional trajectory rather than simply functioning as a collection of standalone songs.

Contaminated establishes that atmosphere immediately, blending electronic textures and spacious production with the heavier elements that have become central to the band's sound. Red Alert and Blood Money push further towards the metallic end of the spectrum, bringing sharper guitars, heavier vocals and the kind of breakdowns designed with considerably larger rooms in mind.

One of the strongest moments comes with Carnivore, where synths, percussion and guitars work around one another particularly well and give the track an infectious sense of movement. Control, meanwhile, channels emotional dependence into one of the album's most direct songs, gradually increasing the pressure before releasing it through another huge chorus and breakdown.

But Not Broken Enough works best when the band allow some space into proceedings. Rewind strips things back before gradually opening into something considerably larger, its melancholy atmosphere reinforced by piano and understated harmonies. That feeling continues through Lost and Dark, as the album begins shifting from anger towards reflection.

The closing stretch brings some of the record's most ambitious moments. The Basement leans heavily into cinematic atmosphere, while [Gen]inside, featuring Kami Kehoe, uses the contrast between clean vocals, screams and sweeping production particularly effectively.

Finally, Hollow Dreams mirrors some of the reversed textures heard at the beginning of the record and gives Not Broken Enough a welcome sense of completion. It isn't necessarily a happy ending, but it does sound like the point where the emotional storm begins to clear.

The obvious criticism is that much of this territory is already extremely well populated. Elements of BAD OMENS, SPIRITBOX and the broader modern US alternative-metal scene can be heard throughout, and CATCH YOUR BREATH are perhaps still searching for the one characteristic that makes them instantly identifiable among that increasingly large crowd.

But there is also no denying how confidently they execute it.

Not Broken Enough is polished without becoming completely sterile, heavy without sacrificing accessibility and emotionally direct without drowning entirely in melodrama.

It sounds like a band considerably more assured of what they want to be than they were only a few years ago.

They may not have completely reinvented themselves, or the genre around them, but CATCH YOUR BREATH have delivered a bigger, darker and more accomplished version of themselves.

And judging by their current trajectory, they probably aren't finished climbing yet.

Jose Crespo