EP Review: Out Of Darkness - Seize The Day (Modern Metal, 2020)

Brent Smedley is widely known as the longtime drummer of Iced Earth. I was surprised to learn that he has a side-project with vocalist/guitarist Eric Barrios called Out Of Darkness. The seven songs that he has put out via Bandcamp are heavy music no question. But they are far more.

Can the release shed some light into your day?

They offer a look outside of the box. The opener "OH MY" already spreads this open mindness. Other tracks like "I surrender" are heavier material with a very modern metal take to the sound. I disliked the high-toned sound. It's way to harsh in my ears. 

Happily it's not the common sound of the release. The title-track "Seize the day" features rough vocals but riffs lighter through the speakers. It's going more into the groove metal style. It's also modern but not stressing my nerves like so many modern releases only going for brutality. 

"KNTRL" varies between direct and straight metal notes and more vocal heavyness. I like the moments when it's lighter with melodies flying around. My favorite of the EP since it has a slightly calming effect on me.

A ballad is also present of this first attempt. It's called "Freedom to be free" and shines with spoken elements at the proper moments. But the refrain is big and massive as you would expect of such a track with multiple vocal layers as a special in here.

Finally a midtemp song closes the package. It's riffs keep it compact and and the duration short so it may have been the last ideas the guys had at the rehearsals. Anyway it shows that this is a release of the moment - a authentic one.

All in all a solid release that opened my ears. The former duo surely has ambitions and I'm curious to see where this project may go to in the future. The album is available as download or CD on Bandcamp.

Mathieu Bauer performs modern drumming in excellence

I'm always amazed to see today's drummer perform. Back in the day drummers in metal music for sure always had to perform with lots of power to properly give the beat to the music.

But these days the impression won't leave me that the level has improved a lot up to nearly infinity. What can be seen and heard these days that sticksmen show on their drumsets always sets me on fire. It's nearly impossible. Those people for sure most have spent many hours practising to gain the level they play on right now.

One of them is Mathieu Bauer who swings the sticks for modern metallers Brutai. He just recently put out a drum playthrough video for the track "Of Ashes" taken of the band's debut "Born". Just play click and you won't believe your eyes and ears what can be seen and heard:

Mathieu has recently been featured in Rhythm Magazine in the UK, and has been previously featured on Modern Drummer. The band he plays drums for is called Brutai and just played Download Festival and were nominated for 'Best New Band' for the Golden Gods in the UK.

They are signed to Fairwood Music publishing, home to David Bowie's music, and will be touring with Kobra and the Lotus later this year. Make sure to have a eye on Brutai's Facebook page for dates and all the further band updates.

CD Review: Brutai - Born (Modern Metal/2016)

Seldomely has a band impressed me the way Brutai did with their first album. Usually the first previews of many records sound good but the finished album later on may not be as fullfilling as you hoped for.

Introduction
Happily that's not the same with "Born". Having heard the first track "Deep" I was thrilled for more to come. Seeing that the band was very busy with playing gigs wherever they had the opportunity and other stuff they had to work around like a writing blockade I thought that a EP would wait around the corner. But what we have here is a full album and that's even more impressive if you keep in mind that all of this happened in a time of under one year!

The cover of Brutai's first full length "Born", (c) by Brutai, used with kind permission

Summary
So what's inside of the package? First of all it's a modern metal record but one with a special note. While most of the songs have a rough edge to the riffs and the pushing, uncompromising rhythm it's the vocal's core that always centers the music back to some melodic and softer tonality. It's great to hear that along with some catchy melodies the record always remains one you love to listen to. Most of all the sound remains natural and intact not letting the all too modern production ruin the product in the end. You never have the impression that it's overpolished or impossible to play this but instead always can imagine that this is handcrafted music of real humans.

The first three tracks are a good intro in a row. The album slowly takes you into the world of Brutai. With every step you sink in further. While "Relapse" is a rhythm-oriented opener to the album, "Deep" adds the progressive elements just to finally push you to the riffing monster "Of Ashes".

The absolute peak of the record is reached with the songs starting with "Lucidity" up to "Dear Emily" - all the tracks grow further from one song to each other. They're all heavy and will give you a great feeling through the whole duration. I simply had to headbang to these tunes.

The middle sees us taking a breath with the modern half ballad "Valediction", some pretty complex piece of music yet is has a infectious melody spreading all along the track. Just when you thought it's over after the eight track "Over now" the band returns for two more songs.

"Visitors" has some great keyboard melody going through the whole track - it touches you and has been circulating in my mind for a long time. "The Border" is the heaviest track and a full surprise to the package. It's a long pushing heavy crusher that never seems to end but it gives you this special feeling to it that the band has put out something great with the debut "Born" and that you definitely need to see them live.

Purchase Link
Make sure to pick your copy early. All CD and T-shirt bundles are £20 for a limited time only... Prices will increase after 'Born' is released on November 25th. You can place your pre-order here.

Album stream
I've picked the track "Of Ashes" as a quick check- in song for you. Besides the great music it comes with a nice animated album cover. If you'd like to listen to the full album, just check out the Facebook page for the Heavy Metal Underdogs Blog - at this direct link you can hear the whole album that the band has uploaded to YouTube.


Contact data
Make sure to keep a eye on the band through Facebook and mark your calenders when the band hit's the road in January 2017 with The Devil You Know in the UK. For detailed tourdates check my post.

Brutai share Bloodstock 2016 memories along new track "Relapse"

The outdoor festival is over and out. But it's nice that we sometimes can collect some sweet memories of those times that we may recall later. Brutai have had a little look back recently when they looked through their live footage of their performance at the Bloodstock Open Air 2016. They decided to share it along with a reworked album version of the song "Relapse" which is taken of the forthcoming record entitled "Born". Read more about the upcoming release further down underneath the video.

As for me this is fine, outworked and well structured modern metal music. I like the ongoing constant vocals which change all the while during the track all along with the technical aspects. For example the bass guitar lines have much varitaions to offer and the keyboards come in slightly to create a atmosphere that adds to the overall topic of the track. The drums are a monster pushing the whole track. It's heavy but always in a way you still feel comfortable while listening.

The band have just signed to Transcend Music, and 'Born' will be out on 25th November 2016. You can preorder the record here.

A bandshot of Brutai, Photo Credit: Will Ireland Photography, www.willirelandphotography.co.uk

The band's album launch party will be in collaboration with Transcend Music's Christmas Party at The Borderline on 22nd November. You can buy tickets for the show right here or see more details about the event on Facebook.

Also make sure to stay up to date with Brutai on Facebook.

Brutai announce extensive batch of fresh UK tourdates

Sometimes there's hope out there that even in today's complex context new bands can move on forward and get the chances they need to evolve further.

This came to my mind recently when I heard that Brutai have been able to be added to two tours packages.

The first run of dates in August 2016 will see the band playing shows alongside Voices From The Fuselage (featuring Ashe O'Hara ex-TesseracT vocalist) in addition to their already confirmed list of impressive shows one of them being as opening act for Soilwork.
If you're attending this years Bloodstock Metal Festival you're in luck. Just make sure to be at the Sophie Lancaster Stage on Friday the 12th August so you won't miss them.

The second half of the show series will be a support slot for The Devil You Know (featuring Howard Jones, formerly of Killswitch Engage and Blood Has Been Shed) in January 2017. Tickets are on sale since Friday 15th July.

Check out the flyer below for a full list of dates and make sure to see them if you can make it to one of their performances. For the latest updates check Brutai's Facebook page.

Overlook on the coming Brutai shows, (c) by Brutai, used with kind permission

Finally if you've not heard them befor tune in to their first single "Deep". You can purchase the track via the band's Bandcamp page.

Brutai annouce show at Bloodstock 2016 plus club shows

Brutai show is a very good way how modern songrwriting is done in today's heavier range of music. After showing off their first single "Deep" to the public the band has spread the word that they will be part of the line up of this years Bloodstock festival alongside the likes of Slayer, Gojira, Mastodon and more, and will perform on the Sophie Lancaster Stage on the Friday.

The flyer for the Bloodstock Open Air 2016, (c) by Bloodstock Open Air, used with kind permission

They're also heading out on some dates with The Five Hundred in a couple of weeks. You can check out The Five Hundred's single 'Come Closer' here.

The poster for the clubshows, (c) by the Origin Agency, used with kind permission

Friday 6th May - Bantam Northampton
Saturday 7th May - Bar 42 Worthing
Sunday 8th May - Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton
Friday 13th May - Sound Circus, Bournemouth
Saturday 14th May - The Gryphon, Bristol
Sunday 15th May - Sanctuary Live UK, Basingstoke

The debut release of Brutai has been set for the end of 2016. If you've not heard / seen the band before here's their single "Deep".

Also make sure to mark their social accounts with a like or follow so you won't miss out on the further developments via Facebook or Twitter.

Brutai show how different songwriting these days is

Today's upcoming bands have a lot more complexity and variation in their sound. Sometimes it's not easy at all to sort out the elements that come along when you start listening to their music.

I mean their are sometimes these straight songs that come with a clear structure. A straight riff, the fitting rhtyhm to it and some vocals with the typical song structure marking the way through the song.

As of today it takes various times to get through all of the stuff because some of them are so complex and diverse you wonder how it's all coming together. A good example for that is the London-based modern Metal band Brutai who have just released a new single with accompanying music video for their track 'Deep', taken from their forthcoming album which is due for a summer release.

While the beginning goes in straight with some vocals and a good amount of riff hacking kicks into the song it's quickly getting diverse when the vocals change for the first time from the clear style over to the harsh and deep tonality. This is where the song starts to grow in my ears in some sort of monster style, much heavier and harder.

It's followed up by a pumping and pushing part which leads back to the first formula. After the next break of deep vocals their's another ride taking the track to a rougher edge. Finally the end part is quite different from what can be heard of other bands - what a different yet cool way to end a song and letting it fade out with some soft keyboards...

Felix Lawrie (Frontman, Guitarist) says about the track:
"Lyrically, Deep is about a time when we were struggling as a band during the writing process of the album. It talks about challenges we faced when overcoming adversities such as writers block and other struggles in our personal lives. We needed to come back and finish what we started. This song is a reminder to never give up."

Photo credit: http://www.willirelandphotography.co.uk/
(Left to right-  Mathieu Bauer- Drums, Alex Lorimer- Backing Vox and keys, Felix Lawrie- Frontman/Guitarist, Henry Ryan- Guitars, Christian Sturgess- Bass)

The band has some live dates coming up so don't miss them out if you're around:

25th February- The Underworld Camden (supporting Textures)
10th March- Hammerfest (Wales)

If you'd like to have a copy of the song check out Bandcamp or itunes to purchase it.

Also make sure to mark their social accounts with a like or follow so you won't miss out on the further developments via Facebook or Twitter.

Runaway Phoenix (son of Alice Cooper's project)

The son of Alice Cooper (Dash Cooper) has a own band called Runaway Phoenix up and running. Hear the first EP for free right here. It's Metal music with a little mix up with modern and alternative sounds, sometimes with big commercial appeal. Sometimes even haispray-metal comes to my mind when listening this. By the way: the father even sings on track one (Tug of War) so he seems to be proud of what his son does.