Review: “Self Titled” by Brutta

“The album is a definitive punch in your face… or maybe we could say a hammer in your forehead! A mixture of open evil chords with blast beats finding a defined yet tormenting growling vocal. The song themes are very precise and the lyrics bring a subjective aspect of human mental conflicts from a darker angle. It’s right there, aggression, darkness, heaviness, a critical sound mass with a huge personality, not to mention its fine production. A huge amount of energy will be released while listening to the album, guaranteed (laughs).” ~ Brutta

Having worked together before in past bands, the trio of drummer Gledson Gonçalves, guitarist and vocalist Adriano Ribeiro (Athemon), and bassist Tom MacLean (Athemon, ex-Haken) have joined forces once more to forge the debut offering from Brutta in Blackened Death Metal. Produced, mixed and mastered by MacLean at Twelve Tone Studio, the work is a collaboration that openly discusses the morbid themes of existentialism, murderers, religion and evil across eight cuts, each one said to be more deadly than the last. The ritual killings will not stop here with plans to launch another album next year…

A 33 minute ride through a post apocalyptic wasteland awaits for those who would dare listen to this debut offering from Brutta as Ribeiro depicts a hellscape that you might find in Robert Rodriguez movie about the darker side of humanity. While it maybe his vision, the band have been at pains to describe their writing process as a collaboration whereby Ribeiro develops the riffs, to which Gonçalves adds drum parts before MacLean interweaves the bass riffs and then vocals are layered on top. Listening to one or two tracks one could be forgiven for thinking this was all about Ribeiro but listening to the album in full it soon becomes apparent that each member of the group is integral to what they do here. Their sound wouldn’t work without the incredible skills that Gonçalves demonstrates from behind the kit adding dark energy and depth with pulverising rhythms with a distinctive Brazilian flare so while Ribeiro screams like a man possessed during “Frgmntd“, surrounded by sinister swirling riffs, its the whirlwind of battery from Gonçalves that gives it an extra edge. Similarly MacLean’s bass and studio touches like the sound of flies around a corpse on “Mortem” and breaking glass on “Frgmntd” serve to add to the intensity of the heat that the other two bring. Vocally Ribeiro is often a man possessed, eyes bulging as he roars, chants, whispers and screams his way through this collection of dark tales, sounding like the protagonist, a murderer armed with a shovel and looking to sever heads, such is the weight of his snarling intense vocal delivery as he somehow holds onto his sanity. That is mirrored by the music which adds fuel to the fire with driving aggression the lead parts adding a dash of excitement that break up the blunt force trauma of the riffs. One could only imagine what they could do if they could get someone like Marc Rizzo (ex-Soulfly, Ill Nino) to add a couple of his trademark face melting solos to this because that is really all it really needs [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Brutta
2. Mortem
3. Frgmntd
4. Bastardo
5. Inferno
6. Cristus
7. Devon
8. Limbo

“Self Titled” by Brutta is out 17th June 2022 and available over at bandcamp