The Day Everything Became Nothing, Brutal
Brutal, the latest effort from Australia’s The Day Everything Became Nothing is a soul crushing, chugging monster of an album, but it’s far from “brutal” — and I mean that in a good way. While the band’s sound is definitely that of the goregrind nature, they also rely heavily on an infectious, head banging groove that many in the genre can’t seem to capture quite as well as TDEBN.
Combining thick slabs of chugging riffs with a simplistic, yet barbaric drum attack Brutal bulldozes its way through ten tracks of slamming grind with ease. The vocals on this disc are a combination of pitch shifted guttural gurgles, higher end screams and mid range shouts — all fused together to create a deep and rich vocal presence.
The group’s concoction of bludgeoning rhythms and catchy grooves makes for a sweet listen that not only will have you head banging along with every riff, but is damned near heavy enough to decimate cityscapes at just the right volume.
1
TDEBN starts off Brutal with a driving blast of drums, slick riffing and guttural gurgles before settling into a chugging series of guitar hits and steady drum work. These guys may very well set the record for most sprained necks in the quickest time — there’s more groove than you can handle in just the first 40 seconds or so. Several rhythm shifts keep the flow moving along nicely as throat slashing riffs come out of the dark at every turn.
2
I love how these guys waste no time transitioning between songs, getting right into the guttural grooves instantly. This one has a quicker pace than the opener and we hear the higher end vocals for the first time, layered with the deep pitch shifted growls. I’m digging how these guys aren’t out to try and out speed every other band, but are content bashing your head in with slabs of groove and bruising rhythms. There’s a nice burst of drum activity around the two minute mark.
3
A much slower, chugging wall of sound hits sludges its way from the speakers on this next track. The low end guttural growls seem even lower and more sinister as the song moves along. The beat to this one, though slower, is catchy as hell and easy to get sucked into as you head bang along with the plodding rhythm.
4
More chugging annihilation continues on this fourth track. There’s a third vocal delivery that’s deep, but not pitch shifted. The combination of the three screams/growls is a nice change of pace and adds that little extra something to the vat of bloody vomit these guys are spewing around the room. Again, the groove to this track is extremely catchy and surprisingly just plain fun to throw the horns to.
5
Finally, we get to hear some quicker, up tempo beats from these purveyors of crushing goregrind. The pace on this one starts out pretty quick then settles into a mid-tempo groove as the vocals come in. The big growl around 1:12 and the subsequent guitar work are pretty killer.
6
Mid range, raw vocals dominate the beginning of this groove slammed track. The churning riffs on this one are cave man like in there bludgeoning approach — simple, yet effective. Layered growls and screams work real well on this one, as well, helping separate it from the rest of the album.
7
This next song explodes from the speakers like a ruptured carotid artery. Fast, evil riffing and driving drums temporarily slow a bit to dive into a sweet groove, but quickly explode with a fury again and again throughout this track. Man, I’m going to be sore tomorrow after rocking out to this disc.
8
A huge, evil riff and light drumming starts out this next one as the group get down to business with massive guitars and bludgeoning rhythms. The guttural gurgles come in quickly with the groove. The track ends with a great beat and layered guttural growls.
9
Spine shattering riffs start off this one before once again settling into that familiar groove. This one has the feeling of being chock slammed several times. Nicely timed drum blasts trigger some catchy hooks and riffing. That track ends abruptly at the 2:40 mark.
10
I love the opening guitar work in the first 15 seconds of the final song. Another slick groove dominates this one as riff upon riff is stacked on your withering husk. Layered, evil as hell vocals add another layer to the songs already massive sound. This is a hell of a track to end on.
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Favorite Tracks:
All of them
Additional Notes:
N/A