The Deathgrind Thread
Brutal Truth - "Need to Control" (1994) (
I picked up the 1992 "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" debut album from this popular New York deathgrind outfit upon release & really got into its superbly brutal & relentlessly savage attack on the senses so when I heard that Brutal Truth had released a follow-up I was straight down to the local record store to pick myself up a copy. "Need to Control" saw the four-piece act changing the ratio of death metal to grindcore a little bit with the death metal backed off a touch & the grindcore playing a stronger role. There's also a little more experimentation & variation than we heard on the debut with the slower, sludgier material being the strongest inclusions on the album. Guitarist Brent McCarty & bassist Dan Lilker (Anthrax/Exit-13/Holy Moses/Nuclear Assault/S.O.D./The Ravenous/Venomous Concept) combine beautifully with the riffs sounding tight & thick, buoyed by a very strong production job from Colin Richardson. The contribution of front man Kevin Sharp (Lock Up/Venomous Concept/Damaged/Winter) is outstanding too, particularly his more gutteral death metal moments. Incredible fast drummer Scott Lewis (Exit-13/Winter) had left the band after Brutal Truth's first record due to a reluctance to tour &, while his replacement Richard Hoak does an excellent job with the more hardcore based beats, his ability to play blast beats is extremely poor with each blast section sounding like a typewriter being thrown down a hill & it's this flaw that limits the success of "Need to Control" more than any other. He simply can't keep his kick drum in time with his arms which is further highlighted by the clickiness of the drum sound! Still... the consistency of the material is very good with no weak tracks included. Perhaps there aren't as many obvious classics as there were on "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" & I have to admit that the stronger death metal component of their first outing was always gonna be a little more appealing to me personally but I don't think that "Need to Control" is all that far behind its elder sibling these days, perhaps due to my having developed a much stronger taste for hardcore over the many years since. Both records should be essential listening for fans of the deathgrind hybrid & are all that needs exploring as far as Brutal Truth's back catalogue goes.
For fans of Napalm Death, Terrorizer & Pig Destroyer.
4/5
Here's my updated Top Ten Deathgrind Releases of All Time list:
01. Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)
02. Cattle Decapitation - "Monolith of Inhumanity" (2012)
03. Brutal Truth - "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" (1992)
04. Full of Hell - "Weeping Choirs" (2019)
05. Brutal Truth - "Need to Control" (1994)
06. Exhumed - "Dissecting the Caseated Omentum" demo (1992)
07. Lock Up - "Necropolis Transparent" (2011)
08. Cephalic Carnage - "Misled by Certainty" (2010)
09. Damaged - "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" E.P. (1995)
10. Napalm Death - "Harmony Corruption" (1990)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/223