Brutus: An Essential Live Band

Ever since hearing Brutus’ latest album Nest, I’ve been unable to stop listening to it. The Belgian band combine incredible vocals with thundering drums, squealing guitars and growling bass to create a uniquely engaging listen. You can read my full review of Nest here if you want to find out more.

As soon as the needle lifted from my first spin of Nest (ok, I actually listened to it on Spotify but that doesn’t sound as cool), I knew that Brutus were a band I had to experience live and when I saw tickets on sale for their performance at Broadcast bar in Glasgow (for a measly £8 I might add) I bought them faster than an addict buys junk on Giro day. Crude addiction based similes aside, I desperately needed to see this band. Luckily I didn’t have too long to wait and when the 6th of May rolled around I hopped on my mighty steed (aka Scotrail) and made the short trip from Edinburgh through to Glasgow.

Broadcast is a venue I’ve never been to before and the tickets said doors at 6pm, so in my excitement I arrived an hour early only to find that support act Cassels weren’t due on until 8pm with Brutus finally hitting the stage at 9pm. Despite this minor set back the upstairs bar in Broadcast served as a nice place to wait it out and enjoy a delicious burger followed by a couple of cheeky ciders with a fellow That’s Not Metal podcast listener.

Eventually 8pm arrived and we descended the stairs to the basement venue just as Cassels were warming up. I had checked out their latest single A Snowflake in Winter on the train through and was fairly impressed by their hefty sound and melodic vocals. As it turns out Cassels are made up of two brothers from Oxford, one on guitar (which I mistakenly, with my cider impaired vision, took for a bass at the time) and the other on drums. They made one hell of a racket, providing huge blasting riffs and battering ram drums punctuated with much more chilled and peaceful passages. Their cheeky banter between songs also made them very likeable. There’s a common misconception that a two-piece will be less impactful live than more traditional sized bands but Cassels proved this kind of thinking to be complete nonsense with their massive and assertive sound. If you get a chance, give their record Epithet a listen and try and catch them live as they have a very endearing on stage presence and put on a great show.

Other than the power of Cassels, the first thing I noticed upon entering the bowels of Broadcast was the size of the place. It’s pretty tiny which can often be an issue for getting the acoustics right. I’ve been in many a venue where the instruments were so loud you couldn't hear the vocals or the nuances of each instrument or even hear yourself think for that matter, but there were no such issues here and whoever was in charge of the audio set-up for the venue did a wonderful job. As such there was none of the trepidation that is sometimes felt ahead of the main act (following sound issues with the support). Poor sound can ruin even the best bands.

Eventually it was time for Brutus to hit the stage and they came out to minimal fanfare before launching straight into Fire, the opening track from Nest. The sound was immense, the screaming, swirling guitars reverberated around the small space, drawing me into the performance, the guitars pummelling my very being and the vocals piercing my aching soul until my very existence was shattered. Okay, maybe this was the cider amplifying the experience but the sound really was incredible and just as good as on record.

Between songs the band were relatively timid, in that they didn’t engage the crowd in much banter but they regularly thanked everyone for coming and were clearly having a great time performing. Banter is not what I’m looking for in a band and Brutus let their music do the talking instead.

Following that stunning opener they blasted through a number of songs from Nest and debut album Burst. I’m not quite so familiar with the debut so most of the highlights for me were the tracks from Nest including Cemetery, War, Space, Distance, Techno & finally Sugar Dragon. That said, the vocal hooks and powering drive of All Along and the grinding, surging grooves and wailing vocals of Drive, both from Burst, really stood out to me.

I imagine many people in the audience were waiting for the band to break into War, especially after this video, and when it finally arrived it did not disappoint. The foreboding build up brought forth chills and when that earth-shattering riff monster of a beatdown came in, the crowd went berserk; it’s a live moment I wont soon forget.

Despite the sense of anticipation for War and the stupendously powerful performance, I was surprised that it didn’t end up being my favourite moment of the night. That was reserved for Space which came soon after. The echoing vocal “ooh’s” and “yeah’s”, the chunky grunting bass and muted but sparkling lead guitar licks combined to create a post apocalyptic dance party and the moment where the chord progression sounds a touch like the Terminator 2 theme really hit the spot for a sci-fi nerd like me.

Ahead of the gig I had wondered if the band would end the set with the brooding, close to 8-min, beast that is Sugar Dragon and that’s exactly what they did. It had crossed my mind that maybe this lumbering doom-laden monstrosity might be too sprawling for a set-closer but in the end it was the perfect way to slowly wind down what had been an intense show with it’s crushing swirling black metal ending.

So, did Brutus live up to my expectations? In a word, yes, but they didn’t just live up to them, they absolutely shattered them. In fact they were so good that I didn’t even notice that Django (one of my favourite tracks) wasn’t in the set-list and that’s no mean feat. Brutus are genuinely one of the best bands I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing live and it was an experience made all the better by the fact that it was in a small, intimate venue with a bunch of people who clearly love their unique sound.

If you haven’t heard Brutus yet then make sure you check out their latest album and if you have heard them, please make it your priority to see them live. You will not regret it.

You can grab yourself a copy of new album Nest right here, you can also pick up a copy of the debut, Burst, here and you can keep an eye out for gigs near you at wearebrutus.com.

If you’re interested in checking out Cassels, then you can pick up their album Epithet here and check for performances near you here.

Finally, do yourself a favour and check out these videos from the bands below. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Peace.