Wednesday 8 October 2014

Brunt - S/T (Album Review)


Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 22/2/2014
Label: Hevisike Records

Brunt – S/T LP/DD track listing:

1). St. Felix of Nola (08:43)
2). The Tale of the Hideous Tricorn (05:30)
3). Rabbit of Cannabong (06:34)
4). A Concise Cosmic History of the Swob Monster Pt. 1 (04:52)
5). Raw Goat (06:24)

Review:


Birmingham based HeviSike have been climbing the ladder of success as of late. With three Vinyl releases and more in the pipeline, this independent retailer-come-record-label is now cemented in heavy history as a bright light amongst the fog of growing names in the music industry.

Their first release, Guernsey power trio Brunt, are fighting the battle for psych-sludge and boy do they wield all the weapons of mass doom-struction! These guys take classic rock, psych rock, doom, sludge and meld it together in a riff based instrumental package fit for any fan of the aforementioned genres.

The tone heavy tracks are laden with atmosphere and full, bright production. Easy on the ears, this is very inoffensive music, something that some may find a bit lacklustre, but I personally feel adds to the trance inducing quality of this kind of metal. The songs progress from riff to riff nicely, adding layers and slight guitar variations with each passing moment.

Production wise, it’s a bit modern feeling for my taste. The drums almost sound a bit like samples, but that could just be due to the clarity of this record over other bands of similar genre. The guitar is extremely well produced. With a bit of multitracking to add texture, the beautifully distorted tone hits that grindy frequency well, complimented by the Tool-come-Om tone of the bass.


Sweet guitar solos dot the songs, dispersing drawn out sections of heavy riffage, adding the psychedelic feel to an otherwise quite metal record. Sometimes however, it does feel like the monotony of repeated riffs could do with a catchy vocal line over the top. Not to say these guys should get a singer, but I’d be interested to hear what a Scott Weinrich style vocalist could lay on top to add a bit more variation.

The songs are obviously well thought out composition wise, but maintain that jammed out feel essential to the organic nature of psych rock. Every so often you can feel the tempo speed up or slow down slightly, not in such a way that it ruins the music, it’s just very noticeable when in happens in the middle of songs.

It’s easy to see what drew HeviSike to Brunt as their first release. They have all the makings of a good band. Overall I feel with more time and more albums they could mature into a big name in the doom and sludge scene. With this release they showed us tonally and composition wise what they could develop on in future releases, and with the help of HeviSike, they now have the vessel to deliver the goods!

Thanks for reading Y’all!

Words by: Asher G. Alexander.

You can pick up the vinyl here and DD here