Brutality
Sea Of Ignorance

The following page is the product of the dark period we are forced to endure and live through; as for me, I have a dramatic desire to listen to the most extreme, nasty, bastard Metal. This helps me keep anxiety, panic attacks, and fears at bay that want to forcefully invade my mind and my life once again; causing me immense harm as it has happened multiple times over the last few years. This is the well-founded reason for this new "filthy" write-up.

From my earliest and distant listens, I have appreciated Brutality, an American combo from sunny Florida that took shape already in 1986. They are the authors of three albums in the nineties; one of these, When the Sky Turns Black, I consider one of the best Death Metal albums, on par with historic works that have marked an era alongside much more famous bands like Death, Morbid Angel, Entombed, Carcass, Napalm Death, etc... etc...

Deep internal conflicts, clashes over career progression, and the musical direction to follow led to the sudden and unexpected breakup, to the end of the group in 1996, right after the release of In Mourning (which was one of my very first reviews on Debaser now six years ago...). I never thought nor hoped to see them together again; and instead, in 2013, came a trial EP to find cohesion, to test the forces to deploy. From here, the step was brief and indeed, in 2016, Sea of Ignorance marked the return of Brutality with a new long-distance work. A most decent episode I feel compelled to write immediately.

They hurl you, throw you back in the decades, and you awaken in the nineties: twenty years do not seem to have passed. The same dark intensity, the same sonic violence; everything has remained the same, nothing has changed in their sound. A dark cover that reminds of "World Demise" by Obituary: sinister, evil, desperate. A terminally ill world, with no more hope, heading for self-destruction; foul fumes emerge from imposing chimneys, cemeteries and abandoned graves dirty the scene. You sense a gloomy air that smells of imminent death, of rampant epidemics. All too current, unfortunately. Lyrics that tell of wars among peoples, suicides, a sick humanity.

Jim Coker is no longer on drums, previously capable with his very distinctive drumming of creating the solid foundation for that grim, suffocating, anxious sound that is the dominant characteristic of the Americans. But his replacement, Ruston Grosse, does not disappoint, and no difference is noticed in the listening of the eight tracks of the album. Evil, complex, intricate, impossible atmospheres; massive guitar riffs thanks to Jay Fernandez's incredible work, tireless in creating riffs continuously, without breaks, without dead times. Deep, wild voice; a growl with extreme, gloomy, repugnant tones. A sonic chaos, always kept under strict control, reaching its icy peak in "Tribute": a song that begins with Brutality's classic mid-tempo, but within seconds it explodes, reaching a disturbingly fast execution speed close to the sonic saturation of Morbid Angel, to put it briefly. But it's not over because they slow down, leaving space for a Doom worthy of the earliest episodes of "My Dying Bride". Four minutes of total terror... but what beauty for my decadent psyche. So let these bloody and gruesome sounds come; that's what I need.

They honor Bathory with the cover of "Shores in Flames": eleven minutes that I don't want to comment on as I've already rambled on too much. I recommend you listen to it.

A comeback deserving top scores.

Back to the Past - Back from the Dead.

Ad Maiora.

,