Brutus

Behind the Mountains

Written by: BV on 29/06/2013 20:06:04

Brutus, the part Swedish, part Norwegian quintet follows the current trend of bands like Graveyard, Witchcraft, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and many others in their avid attempt to recreate the quality and impact of the kind of rock music the 70’s have come to define – most notably through acts like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and the like. Bands that, in a way, have outlived their own grounds for releasing albums yet seem unable to step down in the face of this emerging revival of their particular genre. Brutus still holds a reason to release albums in my opinion though, as they serve as a melting pot of the best elements from many of the highly esteemed bands from that particular period of time, without ever becoming overly ‘inspired’ nor completely plagiarizing.

In “The Witches Remains” the listener is treated to a doom-like soundscape that is clearly inspired by Black Sabbath – both in terms of vocal style, the general sound of the riffs and the occult references in the lyrics. It never becomes a fully fledged Sabbath track though, as the more modern influences are blended in as well; both production-wise but also with the general touch to the track which gives off the vibe that these guys have been listening intensely to Witchcraft. Despite picking up the pace in the follow track “Personal Riot”, thus eliminating some of the doomier influences, the references still stand out clear as day and I’m beginning to feel like I’ve heard many of these songs before, though I’m never able to put my finger on where. Though I must admit that the bluesy solo-work on “Personal Riot” comes off as quite authentic and, oddly enough, also quite exciting – serving as a timely break from the continuous riffing.

With “Mystery Machine” the listener is treated to a soundscape that is quite reminiscent of early seventies Led Zeppelin mixed with contemporary Witchcraft, and the vocal styling of a late seventies Ozzy Osbourne. Confused? Well, so am I but I like this track quite a lot. The simplistic yet utterly infectious riff heralds a future that is quite bright for these guys and the tenacity in which they stay true to the seventies soundscape is one that I can only admire.

Despite their cool sounds and raging authenticity I’m finding it hard to see these guys on the same level as either Graveyard or Witchcraft as they have not yet achieved the same ‘pop-level’ accessibility as the formerly mentioned acts and therefore probably won’t garner any astonishing interest from the public at large, as of this moment. Though, for retro-fanatics such as myself this is a welcome addition to the record collection.

Download: Reflections, Mystery Machine, The Witches Remains
For The Fans Of: Graveyard, Witchcraft, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 24.06.2013
Svartsot Records



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