20th February 2022

Review: “2021 Promo” by Brethren

Effectively a third demo consisting of hymns of death, war and ritual terror from Perth Australian duo Brethren, this December 2021 promo follows a pair of EPs in August 2021’s “Altar Kommand” and 2019’s “Effigy” as multi instrumentalist and lyricist Typhis and vocalist and lyricist Apep Glykon continue to work on a debut full length with the working title “Conquer the Inferior“. Intended to offer fans an insight into what the duo have planned, it sees them continue to dabble in all things Blackened, from Punk to Death Metal with a promise of a cassette release when the album is done…

Blackened Crust Punk opener “Caskets” sets the tone, sounding like the band are playing in a cave or dank dark basement torture chamber hell with a scuzzy guitar tone and a muddy drum sound adding a certain charm to the demo offering. It’s fast and loose with a tastefully executed solo that may attract the attention of Snorlax mastermind Brendan Auld as wanting to get involved on the production side with them. He’s been involved with enough projects of this nature to lend a helping hand tighten up a few of the screws the band have rattled loose here. “Rain Holy Death” slows things down as a mid tempo affair that brings to mind bands like Integrity as it plays out with skull battering intentions far removed from the opening cut. Those two while sharing the guitar sound and quality of recording don’t hang together well as consecutive cuts to the point you might think they were from two separate projects with the same vocalist if you were none the wiser. It’s a promo and so that’s kind of expected. “Conquer the Inferior” is then a tub thumper that sits neatly between the two previous tracks as one that has the intention of rattling your bones. As a collection of demos this bodes well for the debut album Apep Glykon’s caustic vocals making Brethren sound like they’re from the biting cold of the north of Scandinavia rather than the warmth of Australia. The bands sound is timeless but not quite as raw as they come, that accolade being reserved for Incarceration but with a little tightening here and a little polish there, this could be the start of something nasty. Should they manage to escape their dwelling this project is one that deserves to be fleshed out to a full band so that venues can be decimated by this violence [7/10]

Track listing