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Brutal Truth/Bastard Noise - The Axiom of Post Inhumanity

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    Paul Casey
    Frito Bandito

  • Brutal Truth/Bastard Noise - The Axiom of Post Inhumanity

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    Brutal Truth/Bastard Noise - The Axiom of Post Inhumanity
    Released by: Relapse Records
    Released on: November 11, 2013
    Purchase from Amazon

    After unleashing hoards of metal and grind on the masses for over twenty years, Relapse Records needs no introduction. Brutal Truth shouldn't either, but it's a great grind band with Dan Lilker (I better not have to explain him!) that's equally as old as Relapse. Interestingly, Bastard noise (a side project of some of the cats from Man Is The Bastard) is of the same vintage as well. So, with over sixty years of experience between the three, we should be in for a treat, right? Well...

    THE AXIOM OF POST INHUMANITY is available on both CD and LP. Pretty cool, right? Nope. Each version contains different tracks, so fans of either band will need to buy both! I don't know when Gene Simmons took over Relapse, but he's not doing fans any favors with this release. The LP features one long track from Brutal Truth and three from Bastard Noise, and the CD has two from Brutal Truth and four from Bastard Noise. Wait, LONG Brutal Truth tracks? Are they like a bunch of grind songs rolled into one? Nope. THERE IS NO GRIND ON THIS ALBUM. Having not heard any Brutal Truth since KILL TREND SUICIDE, I was looking forward to see how they've progressed. Youtube made me think they were heading in more of a Burnt By The Sun type direction, so I wasn't going to be terribly disappointed. AXIOM didn't help. Okay, enough of the warnings, let's get into the business.

    First off, this release is more toward the Bastard Noise side than Brutal Truth. I generally find BN pretty lackluster, but not everyone can be Incapacitants. Regardless, they've been around for a long time and I respect their longevity and love of building electronics (noisers all over wail Trogtronics in their set ups). Of the seven Bastard Noise tracks, you don't get much variety. Titles like "The Duel of the Ant and the Dragonfly," "Horned Beetle Conflict," and "Mantis Colony" should give you a pretty good idea of the sounds you're going to encounter. The high screeching synth oscillations sound good, but they need something more. There's some really excellent reverb behind it, but that's not enough depth. "The Duel of the Ant and the Dragonfly" is spartan, and it doesn't work in its favor. At seven and a half minutes, it gets tiresome very quickly. The other two bug songs are pretty much the same. If I were to guess, I'd say this is a guy wailing away on a modular synth. Modulars look cool as fuck and sound great, but anyone who gets behind one instantly turns into a boring, pretentious douche. Maybe I'm jaded by too many overlong basement noise performances, but I know what I don't like. The overactive modular sounds are present on the rest of the tracks, but it's more restrained or at least seems that way because there are other layers to help smooth it out. "The Horizon on the Lynx" has the goofball scramble on top of a bell-like, oscillating synth drone. It has a nice galactic soundscape vibe and the synth noodling adds a nice chaotic touch to the space flight. A tad overlong, but a cool track. "The Antenna Galaxies" plays along almost exactly the same, so either you're in for another treat or you're doubly pissed. "Preemptive Epitaph For the Living" changes things up a bit. The spooky, sweeping drone is the backdrop for evil vocals...two different kinds!! The first is a super low growl not unlike the Devil in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. However, that's a comedy and I can only assume BN was being serious. It's totally goofy. The second, higher vocal is screechier and has a possessed feel. Thankfully, this one is used more. It's a pretty cool screech. A solidly creepy track, but the six and a half minutes is pushing it. "Frack Baby Frack" is the shortest and best offering on the release. There's more distorted crunch, a few layers rockin', and the vocals sound like chewed up samples. This is a power electronics track, plain and simple. I dig it.

    So that leaves us with Brutal Truth, ay? As mentioned above, there is no grind here. Well, there may be, but it's obscured as shit. Two of the BT tracks are mixes of the same track (I think). There's "Control Room - Peace is the Victory Mix" and "Control Room - Smoke Grind and Sleep Mix." They're basically the same (well, no, but close enough for my review's sake) and both long (18+ and 23+). Picture a nice, dark, alien cave sounding dark ambient. Now, stretch it out and about two thirds of the way through, add goof wails and drums waaaaaay back in the mix. Play until you're bored and then go on for another ten minutes. The drums sound like they're quite cool, but they're far too deep in the mix to hear anything worthwhile. Shame. "The Stroy" is the BT highlight. It's a live jam that consists of a looped buzz and chirp that rocks it solo before drums, growls, and guitar feedback kick in. While it sounds cool, I'm sure it felt even better being there.

    The breakdown is as follows:

    LP -

    BRUTAL TRUTH - Control Room: Peace is the Victory Mix
    BASTARD NOISE - Preemptive Epitaph for the Living
    BASTARD NOISE - The Antenna Galaxies (ngc 4038-4039)
    BASTARD NOISE - Frack Baby Frack

    CD -

    BASTARD NOISE - The Duel of the Ant and the Dragonfly
    BASTARD NOISE - The Horizon on Lynx
    BASTARD NOISE - Horned Beetle Conflict
    BASTARD NOISE - Mantis Colony
    BRUTAL TRUTH - Control Room: Smoke Grind and Sleep Mix
    BRUTAL TRUTH - The Stroy

    If I were to recommend one of the two, I guess the LP looks better. However, I really don't like the approach. The tracks played well in the background, but that's not what I'm looking for in a noise or grind approach. I like my noise like I like my cavemen; club me over the head, drag me back to your cave, and bang the shit outta me.

    So, buy it if you want, but if you don't, you're not missing anything.

    • Ian Jane
      #1
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      Ian Jane commented
      Editing a comment
      The first time I read this I completely missed the Bill & Ted reference. Excellent.
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