Brutus
„Unison Life“
Prog, Post-Hardcore. Black Vinyl. 2022.

This time I became aware of the Belgian band Brutus through a live recording by WDR Rockpalast. I was particularly impressed by the band's drums, which play a mixture of prog and post-hardcore. The band was founded in Leuven in 2013. Their first album "Burst" was released in 2016. Peter Mulders plays bass and Stijn Vanhoegaerden plays the electric guitar. The music is melodic, hymnic and very powerful. The focal point is Stefanie Mannaerts, who not only plays the drums really well, from soft to powerful, but also has a special voice that conveys great emotions and sometimes reminds me of Björk. The bass and electric guitar add to the emotionality of the music.

Unfortunately, the record imported from the USA is full of crackling noises. It doesn't bother you in the loud passages, but it does bother you in the quiet ones. Of course, it could just be my copy; if it wasn't from the USA, I would have exchanged it. It's a shame, because the music is well recorded.

Side A begins with "Miles Away". Quite short, a quiet beginning, which shows the interested listener from the middle onwards what power is to come. "Brave" hits hard right away. Guitar and bass lines give the impression of a storm! "Victoria" on the other hand sounds much brighter, but no less powerful in its alternative rock packaging. I really like Peter Mulders' bass lines here. "What have we Done" is a single emotional rock anthem that simply sweeps me away because of the tangible energy. Highlight one. Highlight two comes right after in the form of "Dust". This song is immensely powerful, has slightly prog elements and could convince any metalhead. This ends side A in style.

Side B starts with "Liar", melodic and fast. The middle is nice and calm, and towards the end there is a lot of power again. "Liar" is highlight three. "Chainlife" lives from the more complex drums. Power? Power! What can I do, "Chainlife" is another highlight. "Storm" isn't that out of the ordinary, but it's not really my thing. Still a good song. "Dreamlife" is cleverly thought out and lives from the beautiful vocals, which provide adaptive emotionality. "Desert Rain", the longest song at 06:47, is varied, less melodic, and appeals to me as a prog head. A good song to end with.

When I first heard it, I was immediately captivated. Good vocals, brilliant drums, good riffs and bass lines. There is endless power. All the instruments come across well. Overall, an emotional album with many highlights. This powerful album moves me.

The photos are all from my LP. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the rights holder. The second photo from Rock am Ring is from: Andreas Lawen / CC-BY-SA-4.0