Brutal Truth – End Time

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Grindcore is a rage-filled form of art that has been tried and true for nearly twenty years with very few bands have been able to perfect the aggressive nature of it, and Brutal Truth are one of the American Godfathers in that respect.  Since 1990 we’ve seen Brutal Truth taken a few different musical forms, but always with keeping the straight-forward death metal/grindcore style their fans love.  I know for a fact that I was not the only one who was very happy to hear about the band coming back to life after an eight year hiatus in 2006, and they subsequently released a couple split albums, an EP, and their return-to-form full-length entitled, “Evolution Through Revolution“.  It was a time when us grindfreaks could hardly be satiated by what the rest of the metal world was giving us, and what Danny Lilker (Nuclear Assault, ex-Exit 13, Venemous Concept), Rich Hoak (Total Fucking Destruction, ex-Exit 13), Erik Burke (Kalibas, Sulaco, ex-Nuclear Assault), and Kevin Sharp (Venemous Concept, ex-S.O.B.) gave their fans was something much different than what we had thought would be released.

Evolution Through Revolution” was a look into what it would be like if Brutal Truth had continued right where they left off, but threw more groovy and sludge-like riffs at you.  There were those that weren’t exactly fans of the different approach the band took, but I was in the opposite camp; I thought it was a very refreshing take on grindcore as a whole, and found it quite enjoyable.  Two-and-a-half years later the group gives us a new slab of meat to gnaw on: “End Time“.

End Time” has a very similar feel to “Evolution Through Revolution“, but this album just feels more concrete and adventurous, even for Brutal Truth.  There are a lot of pieces of this album that hold the grindcore flag high and proud, but it has also has this doom and sludge feeling on top of the already aforementioned grind.  Tracks like the album-opener “Malice”, “Drink Up”, and “War Embraced Poverty” give out vibes of being slowly crushed to death underneath the weight of its own song writing.  Very droll and slow tracks on an otherwise speed-filled album are great ways to break apart the feeling of continuous bombardment with Kevin Sharp’s haunting vocal approach following close behind.

One thing that I am finding myself really liking about this album is that while most of the riffs obviously feel like they should reside in grindcore, there are a few that the guys just throw at the listener, trying to see if it’ll stick with their theme of experimentation.  I have been caught off-guard by a few riffs here and there, with examples coming in from “Sweet Dreams”, “Butcher”, “Swift And Violent (Swift Version)”, and quite a few others where I felt compelled to contort my face and scratch my head in both confusion and amazement, seeing how when I would think about it, absolutely none of those riffs would work with any other band, and only Brutal Truth could pull them off.  Nice work.  Plus, if you’re as much of a fan of feedback and crazy Rich Hoek drumming as the band is, then you’ll absolutely love the fifteen-minute static lullaby, “Control Room”.

One great thing about my job is finding an album like this that can hit most of my sweet spots and I don’t need to write very much about it, because we all know exactly what we’re getting in to when looking at a track record that Brutal Truth holds.  “End Time” is a continuation of where “Evolution Through Revolution” left off but a little more experimental and sludge-like elements.  It is a great new approach from a band that has been around and seen and done it all when it comes to death metal and grindcore.  I love seeing veterans of the genre coming out with fresh material, and this is no exception.  Go get this album and prepare to be blown away.

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Jon
Having grown up in the vast industrial wasteland known as Detroit, my sister subjected me to multiple albums by bands such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Exodus, I quickly became immersed in the world of heavy metal for life. Even with my love of the tradition styles of metal, I always found myself craving something louder and heavier, thus bringing me to the much more extreme side of this genre of music. With classic bands such as Dismember, Autopsy, and Napalm Death always dominating my stereo system, I felt content to dig as deep as possible into the depths of ghastly heavy metal, and all these years later I still haven’t hit the bottom.