Brutality-Screams Of Anguish

As far as underrated old school death metal goes, Brutality's debut ''Screams of Anguish'' must be nice find. Released in 1993, this album has a vast display of great musicianship and tasty riffage. Despite coming from the USA these guys were fairly obscure and underrated even though the music they created was different than other OSDM bands of the time. The album introduces brutal riffs, chaotic solos and malevolant tremolo picking to create a face-melting and pummeling album with some doom metal influences even.

This is absolutely crushing. A brain stomping monster of an album. The riffs are fantastically crafted and are technical aswel as heavy and brutal. The clean production absolutely baffles me. Compared to any other random DM band of the time, the production is an absolute winner. In ways I like comparing this to ''Dreams Of The Carrion Kind'' and album equally brutal and technical. The huge harmonies on this album are great, creating a weird atmosphere for listeners. And when combined with those sludgy, doomy and rotten riffs, the album gets a whole lot better than just ''brutal''. Another thing that caught my attention is their lyrical content. İnstead of ripping cadavers and doing brain surgeries, Brutality likes to talk abut more apocalyptical things. Musically there are some interesting techniques and sounds that Brutality uses. The album actually sounds alot like ''Tomb Of The Mutilated'' era Corpse with just more clear vocals. They carry some traits of that traditional OSDM sound but unlike many other bands, they were able create their own unique sound.

Now as I said before, the riffs are just beautifully heavy and crushing especially on the first two tracks. The music carries some traits of brutal death metal too, with rapidly changing tempos and confusing drumming. The drums are well-played and can blend into the music easily with say, double bass drums, blast beats or standard beats. Let's get to the doom influence here. Most drum work shows good performance in those sections of riffing, just as the vocals which tend to go slightly lower and more ''growling''. The doom-laden riffs don't last for long, because they quickly transfor into either a technical riffs or a tremolo chugh. The beautifully epic and twisted atmosphere that the marmony riffs provide are undeniable, and truely are amazing.

The vocals are pretty cool, nothing much to be said about them though, since they were many bands, doing the same kind of vocal work as the guy on Brutality. He has a deep yet surprisingly clear voice. The growls are really a cool addition to the whole twisted atmosphere so they can make it even more twisted. Creepy harmonies, doom-laden riffs, growls-that's Brutality's trick, to give you the goosebumps. And that, perfectly reflects the cover art into music for me.

Brutality's amazing debut really flew the flag for Brutality. Even their next album is a great one and I highly recommend it to people who like this album. Musicianship and technicalty is displayed on this album-and that is an absolutely crucial factor.

Highlights:
Crushed
These Walls Shall Be Your Grave
Ceremonial Unearthing

Rating: 92%