The Brood
The Truth Behind
(Give Praise Records)
Hailing from London, UK, The Brood play crusty grindcore or just nasty hardcore. The thick, heavy riffs are blasted under deep, guttural growls. As the vocals are screamed over blistering, savage rhythms, Chaos and hate are summoned. The cover, a child amongst and commercial and industrial landscape speaks volumes.
The sounds are pungent and belligerent, wreaking of a tumultuous vision of our world as we venture into a materialistic, wasteful future. While there is a grindcore sensibility to the first third, as we move through The Truth Behind, we find grooves and rhythms on which to grasp. Blast beats still erupt persistently throughout the album. The second track, “Barbie Vorhees” is 40 seconds, crushing throats at a violent speed. But most tracks are an elongated two minutes, “Of Guts and Fire”, and three minutes “Lobotomized’. They slow to add variety and thick chunky grooves with breakdowns that are stunning hardcore. “Descending Into Madness” and “Reign of the Leeches” are a driving metallic pair in the middle third of the LP that rage and show an ugly and intense visual, holding a mirror to the society which forged their sound.
Chaotic guitars, tuned low and lit on fire, are the center of The Brood. The drumming is sinister and relentless. Technically impressive and emotionally volcanic, the drums engulf the listener in deep tones. A visceral, cold delivery, the production is beastly. Never too polished, but when we get to “One By One” you appreciate the clarity. The bulky riffs are beefed up but you can hear individual instruments; the raspy vocals and the pounding drums. This song, flowing into the stormy intro of the next track “Latent Dementia” even presses forward into black metal territory. The audience gets a horrid sense of looming atmosphere.
“Free Range “Meat” is a spacy feedback soundscape under menacing samples. The final third of the album continues to bash speakers. Again, the bass is clearly heard under thunderous riffs. The production shines through out. Tracks, “Mud Doll Factory” and “Mindfuck” paint ornery pictures. The rapacious corporations slobber as we feed for our convenience and ignore any side effect and short comings. “Mud Doll Factory” is just under four minutes, ripe with time changes that deliver interesting sections, never repeating and boring an audience.
This is a great LP that would fit well on Earache or early Relapse. Give Praise has been slinging out winners back to back. Usually a little more grindcore. The Brood bring a frenzied hardcore repertoire. Stellar production showing this is a band of 2017 is refreshing, not mired in lo-fi dissonance. The terrifying reflection of our sick society breeds damn fine music. I hope these dudes make a lot of recorded music.
RIYL: Napalm Death, Insect Warfare, Wolvhammer, The Horror, SSS, Wormrot, Cripple Bastards
