Belgium three piece Brutus return with the nail gun symphony that is ‘Nest’. It’s a Powerful, provocative and in places devastatingly beautiful album. Opener ‘Fire’ picks off where the bands stunning 2017’s debut ‘Burst’ left off. The haunting intro slowly rises to the distinct head turning punch that is Brutus. The vocals remain tunefully stretched and every last note is squeezed out with an intoxicating, underlying desperation. This is none more evident than on ‘Django’ which marches over preconceived stereotypes and conquers any second album fears, oh it’s on.
The controlled punk slash of ‘Cemetry’ tears out your hair out and spits on the bald spot while whisking the listener into a semi-frenzy of antagonistic pleasure before ‘Techno’ gets the internal organs shuddering with its devil deep bass and searing guitar. Standout track ‘War’ highlights Stefanie’s unique vocal style as the band take their foot off the multi-layered Speed Metal/Hardcore throttle and lure you in with a cut of two halves. The first causes goosebumps that you only usually encounter winter swimming as suddenly it rocket launches, before returning to a crescendo of reverb, fizz and Brutus melody. ‘Blind’, ‘Distance’ and the curveball’ Space’ all smother release and then smother once more. The final cut is a seven-plus minute masterpiece ‘Sugar Dragon’ which swirls, diverts and embraces the tangents that Brutus take for granted but leave the rest of us shaking our heads. Looking for something different in 2019, listen to Brutus.
BRUTUS
‘NEST’
Hassle Records
9/10