ALBUM REVIEW: Unison Life – Brutus
Belgian power trio BRUTUS blew minds the world over with their debut album Burst. Drawing on post-rock and post-hardcore, it was the sound of a band utterly unafraid to smash as many boundaries as needed in the pursuit of their perfect sound. Now after a fresh wave of critical acclaim thanks to second album Nest and the recently-released single Liar, the band are returning after enforced inactivity (at least live) with their most intentional album yet, Unison Life.
Never one to shy away from heavy concepts, Unison Life sees BRUTUS tackle the notion of the perfect life; whether it can exist, the obstacles that stand in the way of such a hypothetical and whether that’s something we should desire in the first instance. Naturally, every song deals with some facet of that and some emotional side to it. The aforementioned Liar is the band tackling the idea of avoiding confrontation unhealthily; lying to give someone else what they want to hear rather than facing an issue. But before that, Unison Life opens with Miles Away, an atmospheric beginning with drummer/vocalist Stefanie Mannaerts showing the full range of her voice from softer croon to her emotionally raw, throat-rending raspier vocals.
Mannaerts has described her process as approaching every song as the last song BRUTUS ever wrote, and it shows; not in a sense of finality but in how far they’ve come. What Have We Done tugs at the heartstrings with its quiet guitar and vocal opening, building to a post-rock crescendo that’s nothing short of breathtaking. In other words, it’s all unashamedly BRUTUS but also so much more; snaking guitar riffs on Dust, ethereal wind-chimes that sparkle both on Liar and various other points across the album, rumbling basslines and drumming that batters the senses.
Speaking of Dust, the song features atmospheric breakdowns and enraged cries of “I am so tired / Of everyone that’s breathing down my neck”. Chainlife ups the post-rock with its opening bars, complemented by rolling cymbals; Dreamlife, on the other hand, breaks free just as the name suggests. It deals in churning post-hardcore but is just as powerful and emotional; “Just give me a light inside my head / I’ve tried so many times to fit in” echoes the idea of escaping into your own reality away from the world but knowing the world outside is imperfect. It’s almost resigned to not achieving a perfect life, in that way, with power behind every cathartic note.
The chimes that start closer Desert Rain belie the storm that’s to come; frenetic post-hardcore underpinned by drumming so frantic it feels dangerously close to coming off the rails entirely, but the runaway freight car is brought back to the tracks for a stirring guitar melody and post-rock crescendo. By the time Unison Life closes, it’s been a wild ride of highs, lows and everywhere in between; tears of anguish, cries of joy and of exasperation are wrung out across it as BRUTUS cement themselves as one of the most creative, unstoppable forces in modern rock.
Rating: 9/10
Unison Life is set for release on October 21st via Hassle Records/Sargent House.
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