Brutal Truth - s/d

niche thread for niche people. no poll.

so Need to Control is one of my favorite grind/death albums ever. the vocals on are insane, the riffs chunky and full of unbridled chaos, the cover of "Media Blitz" a complete steroid enhancement of the Germs classic. it's just a carousel about to careen off its track.

whereas the debut (Extreme Conditions) is more of a straightforward album, songwriting wise. the seeds are there for what's to come later.

beyond that, I feel like nobody agrees.

I love Sounds from the Animal Kingdom, and it's abstract weirdness and noisy quality. also the balls to create the 20 minute "Prey" which is just the same shit over and over again for 20 minutes.

their comeback albums divided fans especially since you couldn't really arguably call them 'grind', but more a continuation of the noisier, more abstract ideas they were starting to explore on Animal Kingdom. I liked both reunion albums and saw the End Time tour. but I do agree either might not be the album you start with 'Truth.

still haven't listened to Kill Trend Suicide but I just picked it up. or Songs from a New Generation.

any other fans, and if so, what era of Brutal was your favorite?

They're not a band I listen to often, but I do like them. I saw them at CBGB around the time of Sounds of the Animal Kingdom and they were doing some really wild shit live, throwing an improvisatory element in, like I remember one song where Rich Hoak played only the hi-hat for the whole time and then came in with this thundering fill right at the end of the song that totally demolished the pit. If I had to rank their catalog in terms of how much actual pleasure I get from listening to each album the reunion albums would be right up there, they managed to become a "listener friendly" version of themselves without shedding any of the intensity of the earlier work. Sounds... is good experimental, Need to Control less so; too many ideas not fully thought out. The debut is good, but they're obviously throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. I remember the live double CD being insane, but i haven't heard it in forever.

Great band and Kevin's a mensch.

This thread (which is probably already over) has me revisiting the catalog. Solid stuff.

not really a live album guy, but the ones I do like capture the energy ferocity of the show in a way where you can create your own mental picture. it's not merely about the music and how it sounds.

just picked up Goodbye Cruel World, and damn, do they sound unhinged on this. I only got to see them live once and it was pretty wild but this sounds like it was probably on another level. i can picture hundreds of hungry kids slamming into each other, caked in sweat and dropping their PBR cans in the process.

coulda used more crowd noise at times. I'm guessing this was individual tracks culled from various shows rather than one continuous due to the unclean breaks between tracks, but....w/e!

Things I often shout at my kids: 'I hope you make sure we're properly dead before you start!'

I saw them once back in the day. Mental gig - totally fun.

I always liked Nuclear Assault too. Should revisit.