RSS Feed


BRUTUS
Behind The Mountains

Svart (2013)
Rating: 5.5/10

Not to be confused with the Czech rock band who formed in the 60s, nor the Canadian combo from the 70s, or even the Dutch death metal act for that matter, this particular Brutus is a five-piece Scandinavian act – part-Swedish, part-Norwegian – which clearly thinks they are occupying the same muddy waters once trodden by the two already mentioned vintage bands.

Brutus are very much retro in their approach, combining big, bluesy melodies with psychedelic hard rock. These guys are, to put it simply, throwbacks to a bygone age, but instead of bathing in the blood of sacrificed virgins, alongside the swarms of occult rockers making headlines, Brutus instead opt for a humbler approach.

This is very much stripped down rock music that is only intent on wearing tatty flares and bleached t-shirts. If anyone recalls the Dirty Americans from a few years back, then you might want to check out Behind The Mountains; a mighty dose of Americana (from Europe!) that is every bit as Grand Funk Railroad as it is Blue Cheer.

Rarely do these guys ever come under the metal banner, preferring instead to shake the walls with sweaty retro boogie that hints at the creaky magic carpet ride of Blue Cheer whie banging heads with a toned down Corrosion Of Conformity, circa America’s Volume Dealer (2000), with the usual Black Sabbath engine oil thrown in for good measure.

Brutus are of the no frills variety, and I guess it’s their complete lack of identity which I find so annoying, because while it’s clearly the in-thing for modern bands to hearken back to the days of yesteryear, there is nothing here that really grabs you by the balls.

Album opener ‘The Witches Remains’ is a lukewarm, doom-laden plodder that leads us to the Sabbath-esque dash of ‘Personal Riot’, followed by the sprightly ‘Big Fat Boogie’, which is about as 70s as it gets. Awful title aside, it’s a rather bland hip-shaker best suited for nights guzzling beer out of an open-top vehicle while the wind whisks the bandanna off the head.

Traditional rock has never sounded so dry and dusty, and there’s only so much I can take of the arduous slog of ‘Blue Pills’ or the swirling ‘Square Headed Dog’. I have to say, I was never a fan of Grand Funk Railroad or Blue Cheer, so for me Brutus is not the juggernaut I was expecting, because if you thought the current thrash scene was derivative, then Brutus will probably bore the pants off you.

The musicianship isn’t bad, but the structure of, say, ‘Mystery Machine’ is the sort of backbone you’d hear on countless other revivalist albums, chugging on a Black Sabbath-styled riff with dour vocal and predictable arrangements.

It would certainly be unfair to call Brutus a doom metal band, as they rarely approach a sinister guise, and so this is merely traditional rock… nothing more and nothing less. Only the creeping ‘Reflections’ with its Doors-esque initial vocal and distant organ breaks the mould, but otherwise this is a rather stagnant oeuvre which offers about as much threat as a dog chained up on a sweltering hot day.

The 1970s are over, but if I need to revisit them I’d rather do it with the originals. Behind The Mountains, the band’s second opus, is ponderous bluesy rock for cumbersome stoners.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share