Brutal Truth - Need to Control (1994)^{Release ID: 3698}

Another great Brutal Truth album filled with variety and masses of brutality.

I loved Brutal Truth's Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses album from 1992. While I can't say that I'm a particularly big fan of grindcore, the way this US band mixed in other genres such as death metal and doom metal made the experience multi-dimensional and unique. For some reason it's that album that I generally reach for when I want to listen to Brutal Truth and not this more critically acclaimed one. So, I've spent the last couple of weeks delving further into this one to see whether I've just been missing something or whether this is just a personal preferences thing.

The great news is that Need to Control does indeed continue with the good work of the debut. There are still massive, doomy tracks such as Collapse, Ordinary Madness and to a lesser extent Displacement, which I find immensely enjoyable. But then Brutal Truth are really about playing hyper speed grindcore in short bursts with Kevin Sharp screaming his guts out over the top, which they of course still do damn well. The drumming is jaw dropping and the riffs manage to be quite catchy at times even though they're being played at a million miles an hour. Everything is executed perfectly, and Kevin's vocals are as entertainingly brutal as they were on the debut.

Yet even though all these things are in place and running smoothly, I still think I prefer the first album. The 4 and half minute noise of Ironlung doesn't do a lot for me and the minute-long Media Blitz is just a bit too hardcore sounding. Choice of a New Generation may be a fan favourite, but I find it to be a bit simplistic and not particularly interesting for some reason. Anyway, I'm being harsh on what is another great Brutal Truth album. Tracks like Collapse, Turn Face, I See Red and Bite the Hand are damn awesome and there's enough variety throughout the 15 tracks for things to never get boring. So while I still don't consider Need to Control to be the bands best work, I do have more of an understanding as to why it's so adored, and I'm certainly glad I put in the time to appreciate it.

After the fantastic debut, Brutal Truth return with a follow up that is much less one dimensional, but also less consistent. In opposition to the near constant pure Deathgrind pummeling on the debut, Need to Control features some slower songs, some straight Grindcore, and a decent amount of Noise influence on a few tracks, with some being pure Industrial/Noise.

The opening track is a pretty big surprise from the band, being akin to a Death Doom sound and really slowing down their formula, but it pulls this off rather well. The album continues to flow between their signature Deathgrind and the other influences I mentioned above. One huge issue with this album is that most of the experimentation is not as great as the Deathgrind, and the Deathgrind on this one just doesn’t match up to their debut.

Ultimately, there’s nothing on this I’d rather hear than the debut. The inclusion of other sounds and experimentation might pay off as growth later, but here it’s not fully realized, leaving the album inconsistent.