Brutal Truth

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author PP date 31/10/11 venue Shinjuku Loft, Tokyo, JP

Guest review written by Patrick Tvener

On arriving at the venue I managed to glimpse the last minutes of FU. I can't justify reviewing their performance under the circumstances. However, considering the number of people who were way up front when they performed and after the show when I chatted with those that did see them, they said it was good and that I missed out.

Brutal Truth

NYC’s Brutal Truth were up next. Tonight they performed their newest album, “End Time,” lock, stock and barrel. As Kevin Sharp and the rest of the band came on stage, he wished the (almost seven billion people strong) world a happy birthday, exclaiming that the end was near, and then all four members slammed into the first track titled "Malice" and continued to grind their way through the album.

There are a number of bands that get me excited, but when the band is Brutal Truth, I'm real excited! As they worked their way through the set tonight the pit gradually got larger and fiercer. It was Halloween so there were even a few people dressed up and moshing, which was a sight I have difficulty explaining! The set tonight was their new album, "End Time", plus a joint performance of "Control Room" with No!z Poppinski, and an encore that included some of their older (classics if you're into grindcore) material, such as “Birth Of Ignorance” and a chaotic cover of “I Killed My Family,” originally by YDI.

Brutal Truth are truly a genuine band. All four members have such a large presence on stage that even though they don't move that much they still take up a lot of space. On closer inspection of the four of them, I notice that it's beside the point if Kevin does not wear shoes, or that he wears a cowboy hat when performing! More importantly, it's what he can do with his voice. It's this voice that more and more of us enjoy with every album that is released; live it's that much better. Dan (Bass) has been in the game for so long he just knows what to do. He smacks his four strings, takes care of backing vocal duties, and keeps the low end rumbling like there's no tomorrow. Erik on the other side of the stage is shredding and making sure that our ears are bleeding when we leave tonight, and Hoak.. well, his facial expressions while drumming, explain everything. His drumming tonight was as important as they are on any other Brutal Truth record, and "End Time" is no exception. Remarkable.

Tonight, Brutal Truth served a chaotic dish of sizzling hot grindcore in the form of their newest album. Even though they played the experimental free jazz number “Control Room” (that lasted more than 20 minutes) their set came to an end quickly. So the Truths grabbed a handful of beers and treated the audience to some more chaotic mayhem. It is this conditioned chaos that makes the Brutal Truth experience so vital in this genre (and for metal in that matter), and so memorable and exciting.

"End Time" is another example of what grindcore can sound like; it's fierce; it's catchy; it's straight to the point. Tonight's performance for some might even have been better than the studio version of the album. I can confirm that it was fast (and faster in some places) and loud as hell, and that they managed to grind our heads off. Once again.

8

Setlist:

  • 01. Malice
  • 02. Simple Math
  • 03. End Time
  • 04. Fuck Cancer
  • 05. Celebratory Gunfire
  • 06. Small Talk
  • 07. .58 Caliber
  • 08. Swift And Violent
  • 09. Crawling Man Blues
  • 10. Lottery
  • 11. Warm Embrace Of Poverty
  • 12. Old World Order
  • 13. Butcher
  • 14. Killing Planet Earth
  • 15. Gut-Check
  • 16. All Work And No Play
  • 17. Addicted
  • 18. Sweet Dreams
  • 19. Echo Friendly Discharge
  • 20. Twenty Bag
  • 21. Trash
  • 22. Drink Up
  • 23. Control Room feat. No!z Poppinski
  • -Encore-
  • 24. Ill – Neglect
  • 25. Birth Of Ignorance
  • 26. I Killed My Family (Cover)

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