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.
