The population of Scandinavia is not huge, with about 20 million folks spread between Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and yet as well as a high degree of self-sufficiency in terms of heavy industry, electronics, and the like, the region seems to pump out an almost never ending stream of excellent rock and metal bands covering the whole spectrum of the form, from the hard rock stylings of Audrey Horne to the darkest corpse painted growls from the satanic heartland of black metal. New to Svart Records from this fertile ground springs Brutus, with their first release on that label, ‘Behind The Mountains’. So, what part of the metallic spectrum does this quintet owe their allegiance to? One look at the band’s promo shots, let alone a listen to their music, with their hair flowing and flares flapping, puts Brutus into the ever growing camp of retro sounding bands who owe so much to the seventies heyday of hard rock.
‘The Witches Remains’ kicks off the album with riff that will have any fan of Iommi instantly reaching for their air guitars, the retro feel of the track enhanced by the distorted vocals and lyrics of myth and magic, all blending together into five minutes of rock that could have come from the vaults of Blue Cheer’s back catalogue. ‘Personal Riot’ adds a bit more blues and boogie to into the mix, a style that is enhanced no end by the aptly titled ‘Big Fat Boogie’, an unashamedly catchy song that will have heads nodding and feet tapping along, the group chant of the title just being designed to be joined in with in booze fuelled clubs.
On an album of excellent music with not a single bad track, for me the standout is ‘Blue Pills’, a song so laid back it’s almost horizontal. Everything comes together in a hazy perfection: the vocals are pained and mournful; the rhythm section drives the sound along with a minimalist beat; and the guitar work is stunning with some excellent blues licks that would have done justice to any Free album. It’s as if the spirit of Paul Kossoff had risen from the grave to infuse Brutus’ riffs with his own magic.
From start to finish, there is not a bad number, and the production is designed to keep the band’s sound rooted firmly in the days before pro tools and auto tune. I don’t know if it’s bands jumping on a band wagon, or if it’s just that they’re starting to get the coverage they deserved, but the retro sound of the seventies is back with a vengeance, and Brutus are ready with this album to be in the vanguard of this hard rock revival.
(8.5/10 Spenny)
14/06/2013 at 8:40 am
Awesome stuff, Spenny. Another one to check out. Good old Svart.