Brutal Truth - Evolution Through Revolution Review

Brutal Truth released Sounds of the Animal Kingdom, their last studio album before breaking up, in a time of guiltless euphoria and reverie of an unspecified source. The content of the album, however, could not have been less in keeping with the times. Sounds stands, in my view at least, as one of the more unsettling cultural artifacts of the 1990s; even for grindcore it's disturbing. Its suffocated production, detours from post-human aggression into post-industrial noise, and overall apocalyptic worldview, and especially its title and cover art makes it the sonic equal of John Gray's Straw Dogs. This is not a new assessment of the album, but however unique it may have been it wasn't considered a profound deviation from standard grindcore fare and any overwrought poo-pooing was no more than sour grapes in the optimistic Clinton era. But this begs the question: can a more than normally compelling Negative Nancy still be compelling after all the negative nitpicking he talked about in the past had happened? It's one thing to take the prophetic route in times of perceived peace, in fact it's easy. Whether the intentions of a particular human are well meaning or dubious, their actions are not human without ending in a certain amount of bloodshed. It is, however, altogether different when one creates a work of art with a like-minded animosity in times following instances of major catastrophe that may or may not bring certain destruction within arms' reach.

Evolution Through Revolution makes itself known with the intensity of a sudden emotional breakdown. While this is not an entirely new concept in regards to this genre, Brutal Truth seems more interested in stripping down songs to their barest emotional impact as opposed to most other bands that, as of late, take technicality as their highest priority. Brutal Truth is a band not known for showing a lack of imagination, at least since Need To Control, and at first blush it would seem that they've turned their idea surplus into a deficit, and it does seem that way. Overall, the songs burst into motion with fierce punk-cum-death metal riffs, occasionally veering off into some amelodic effects as it does in between verses on the title track. Fans of the blast beat will, of course, not be disappointed as the pound primitively but efficiently, complemented by Dan Lilker's solid bass work. The most intense feature, however, is Kevin Sharp's vocals, though the style remains as rabid as it's ever been, the polished production brings out the rough detail of its viciousness and gives off the feeling of being uncomfortably close to the listener. He was confined and claustrophobic in Animal Kingdom, but now he is free. While things do sound less warped than in the past, I should think that this is not a creative dry spell but some extension of the horror of life, even if it was done without intention and rather done simply to sound fucking tight and badass, which it also does, particularly in regards to the cover of The Minutemen's "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs."...full text None.
Description
Released April 14, 2009 on Relapse Records.
This is Brutal Truth's first studio album since 1997.
The band originally formed in 1989.
Guide Review - Brutal Truth - 'Evolution Through Revolution'
Dusting off beloved bands is a tricky proposition. The result is often a horrible new album that people pretend to like because of fond memories or a reunion tour. Brutal Truth – always an exception to nearly any rule about music or metal - proves they are also an exception to the comeback rule. The brash, experimental and multi-faceted Evolution Through Revolution deserves a place next to the band's classic '90s albums and will likely be joining many year end best-of lists.

Brutal Truth has never been afraid to take risks with their hybrid grind and they throw caution to the wind on their first studio album in more than a decade. Almost every song on this album is packed with disparate elements that in lesser hands would end up on the cutting room floor.

“Sugardaddy” lurches forward with propulsive guitar work; a minute-and-a half later it dovetails into a glorious fist-pumping riff. “Turmoil “ is so fast it appears on the verge of collapsing on itself. “Get A Therapist Spare The World” starts with a funky passage, races to a grinding frenzy, then slows down into a doom lick....full text The problem with writing about an album as excellent as Brutal Truth's Evolution Through Revolution, the band's first LP after a 12 year hiatus, is that it is really boring to just blow sunshine up a band's ass for three full paragraphs. That's right, I can't really think of anything negative to say about this release, it is absolutely top-notch grindcore, one of the best albums of this year and probably of the entire genre in general. And thats all you really need to know.

Nevertheless, I guess I need to elaborate a little bit and since Brutal Truth seems to be immune to my sword of fury, let me rip on some other bands instead. So here we go. Kevin Sharp's insane vocalizations make Barney Greenway sound like a pink dinosaur, Lilker's bass lines sound bigger than the guitar-less Lightning Bolt and Rich Hoak's ADHD rampaging attitude should make Devin Townsend feel ashamed of his measly bipolar disorder. It is nevertheless Eric Burke's inventive guitar playing that makes Evolution Through Revolution so special - his speed would make Mike Scaccia wish he took more speed, while his sense of groove would have Steev Esquivel question his marijuana intake. Most importantly, the album sounds extremely modern, as if Brutal Truth was in a constant state of evolution while away from the spotlight. Many new areas are explored, with most directions yielding results that put bands with similar approaches to shame. For example, Converge wish they made a song like "Powder Burn", while "Global Good Guy" contains as much extreme crust as an entire His Hero Is Gone LP. "War Is Good" could show Zeni Geva a thing or two about using noise in extreme metal and a track like "Detached" surprisingly contains an atmosphere oppressive enough to make Carpathian Forest fans take notice....full text