Album Review – “Breach” by Twenty One Pilots

The eight studio album by Columbus, Ohio-based alternative rock duo Twenty One Pilots, Breach, is the ultimate conclusion to the world of Dema, a story that began ten years ago with their hit 2015 album Blurryface. The duo, consisting of songwriter and lead singer Tyler Joseph, and drummer Josh Dun, trade their trademark sound of genre-blending rap rock for a more authentic, raw, melodic, and instrumental timbre on the thirteen-track project.

Released on September 12th, Breach came as a complete surprise to fans of the duo. Originally, the band announced that their 2024 record, Clancy, would be the final record in the world of Dema, however they teased on social media throughout Clancy’s album cycle that there was possibly something else still on the way. Surely enough, after a series of cryptic and mysterious hints, announced Breach on May 21st as a sequel album to Clancy. In summary, the story of Dema began in their 2015 album Blurryface, and follows main characters Clancy and Torchbearer, portrayed by Joseph and Dun respectively, as they battle to free a large, circular city called Dema from its mysterious and demonic leaders, Nico and the nine bishops, a personification of Joseph’s struggles with mental health.

The album opens with one of Twenty One Pilot’s most cathartic and powerful tracks, “City Walls”. Combining various styles the duo have used over the years, it marks the end of an era for the band and the final battle of Dema. It masterfully compliments long-time listeners of the band by quoting back to notable lyrics from previous albums. This rap-rock thesis statement masterfully combines so many different influences, including nu-metal-esque verses, a raw, avant-garde chorus, and a huge electro-orchestral ending. The band immediately contrasts this with the follow-up track, “RAWFEAR”, which shows the groovier side of the duo. Joseph shows his vulnerable side during the track’s long bridge section, delivering his lyrics about anxiety and fear in a slam-poetry type of tone. Dun makes his vocal debut on the third song, “Drum Show”. Heavily inspired by garage rock and punk rock, this deeply personal track sets the scene of living in your own world and playing a concert in your head as you drive home between a workplace you don’t care about and a home you don’t want to live in, the chorus screaming “He drives fast just to feel it, feel it. // He drives slow if his song’s not over”. On the fourth track, “Garbage”, Joseph trades the loud, rage-inducing tone of the previous song for a softer tone and more melodic depth. “Garbage” is another deeply personal track, which shows Joseph releasing his inner burnout into lyrics and his lack of motivation and confidence. This is followed by the lead single off the album, “The Contract”, which is easily the most electronic track and the band’s biggest statement on the album, diving into the band’s quarrels with paranoia. “Downstairs” slows the momentum, being the album’s grand ballad, personifying Joseph’s battles with insecurity and the need to hide what he truly believes from the world around, despite having his emotions on display with his music. This ballad is followed by one of the band’s more experimental tracks, “Robot Voices”, a combination of midwest emo songwriting and soft electronic instrumentation that provides the band’s viewpoints on the invasion of technology in all the social aspects of our life. Joseph and Dun then significantly pick up the pace on track eight, “Center Mass”, a song that personifies the feelings of quiet anxiety and panic attacks in public, and how difficult it can be to overcome them. The track reaches its huge climax with a huge bridge towards the end of the song, where Joseph begins pleading for forgiveness and mercy for whatever action he has committed. This intense explosion of emotion is brought down with the depressing and disenchanting “Cottonwood”, which Joseph described at a Breach album listening party as a song he wrote to cope with the grief of losing his grandfather. The tenth track “One Way” is a more melancholic, new wave track that uses more synthesizers and pitch-bending to create an almost uneasy listening experience. The music and lyrics complement each other, as Joseph describes the feeling of having success but knowing failure is just around the corner. The duo cheekily transitions into the following song, “Days Lie Dormant”, by using a voicemail Dun had sent to Joseph about how odd the transition between the two songs would be. “Days Lie Dormant” combines lots of different elements of their personal electronic style with indie rock and pop of the early 2000s to channel their desire of leaving their hometown to accomplish bigger and better things, and to display the anxiousness of being somewhere where nothing grand happens. The penultimate track “Tally” keeps the momentum going from “Days Lie Dormant”, with obvious nods to punk rock and indie rock of the 2000s, as it tells the story of a man wondering if their partner secretly holds all their mistakes against them, or if their partner is simply just forgiving and loving. With a big, cathartic ending to “Tally”, Breach ends calmly with “Intentions” a somber note to leave on as Joseph directly addresses the listener, ending the album with the words, “Intentions will set you free”. As a nod to long-time fans of the band, the instrumental is also a reversed recording of the band’s closing track on their 2013 project Vessel.

Despite only just releasing recently, Breach has already gotten the band some major accolades. Following the release of the debut single for the project, “The Contract”, the duo was nominated for “Best Rock Video” and “Best Group” at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards. This album was definitely a fun listen and a major turning point in the band’s discography, as they started using more instrumentals and more cohesive layering in their production. While the album did have some more boring low points towards the latter half of the album, there were plenty of highlights and big moments to keep your attention. While the future of the duo is uncertain, this is uncertainly one of the best projects the band has released to date.