Brotality’s New EP “It Feeds” Devlivers
Photo Credit: Chad Fenner
Narrowsburg, New York based metal band Brotality recently released an EP: It Feeds, a 5 song release encompassing 23 minutes. Being the first release of their’s I'd heard, I was in for some pleasant surprises.
The first song of the EP “Black Abandon” starts out thrashy with a mix of death metal. The snare, though not pingy, still stands out with a hollower sound traditional of most hardcore. When the first vocal line comes in, it meets the expectations of the instrumental with growls. But when vocals I’d describe as the "Stereotypical Emo” come in, it took me by surprise. Even with these melodic vocal lines, the instrumental does not get any less heavy. It even gets heavier in the breakdowns.
After the fast and quick opener, a slower and longer second track “Cryptic Worship” continues the EP. To follow up a fast 3 minute opener with a slower 6 minute song is a bold move, but works to showcase the different tempos and stylistic choices made in the EP.
The third track: “It Feeds”, is once again shorter, and has a heavy, metallic hardcore style breakdown at the end with plenty of dissonance that warrants at the very least a stank face.
“Nightswimmer”'s riff is simple and catchy, reminiscent of most slam riffs. The slower element of this song creates for an amazing song to mosh to while also having enough melodic elements interspersed to keep it from just sounding like just pure brutality. It’s still the heaviest song overall on the EP.
“The Bones of God” is the longest song on the EP, reaching over 6 minutes. It’s also the only song to have a blast beat. A groovy drum beat makes up most of the song with. The guitars follow a death metal formula, but have either a slightly different mix than traditional death metal or an extra note that gives them a slightly Emo feel.
The EP as a whole is varied. It’s surprising how well the three vocal styles mix. Even though it could be described as metalcore because of the clean vocals, and that influence is definitely there, the death metal elements also stand out enough to differentiate it from the more poppy metal core that metal elitists hate.
The guitar solos are sweeping, melodic, emotional, but also add to the song instead of just being a way to show off how good the guitarist is. Cryptic Worship’s final solo is a good example of this.
I personally think there could be more growls throughout the EP, but I’m biased. The melodic singer’s screams are good, a high pitched vocal fry that first appears in the “It Feeds”. Could they have appeared earlier? Maybe, but they are another pleasant surprise.
There’s not a single clean interlude in the whole 23 minute EP, and honestly, it doesn't need it. The energy and heaviness pretty much keeps outdoing itself as the EP progresses. The ending of “The Bones of God”, where all instruments but the drums fade out, is a wonderful ending to really nail in the driving force of the EP, and shows that they maintained the energy till literally the very end.
Brotality is a local band that needs to be watched as they progress. Also check out their back catalog, which has two other EPs and two full length LPs stretching back to 2019. I hope to see more from them.
Catch Brotality on tour this summer. For more from the band, check out their Instagram, @brotalityband.