Sounds of the Animal Kingdom is the final studio album by New York City band Brutal Truth. A remastered version that includes the 1996 mini-album Kill Trend Suicide was released in 2006.Released :: 1997
Length :: 52:17
Label :: Relapse Records
1. Dementia
2. K.A.P.
3. Vision
4. Fucktoy
5. Jemenez Cricket
6. Soft Mind
7. Average People
8. Blue World
9. Callous
10. Fisting
11. Die Laughing
12. Dead Smart
13. Sympathy Kiss
14. Pork Farm
15. Promise
16. Foolish Bastard
17. Postulate Then Liberate
18. It's After the End of the World
19. Machine Parts
20. 4.20
21. Unbaptized
22. Prey
Length: 72:24
Stepping back from the avantgarde edge of "Need to Control," Brutal Truth mix nontraditional grind factors as aesthetic complements and make the ashen, chromatic, directionless thrashing of their first album come together with some concept but mostly urgency and variation on form. The band have reconverged their sound upon a grindcore extreme of speed and almost schizophrenic complexity in this postmodern document of human despair. In contrast to the previous album, this is as demonstrative, immature and reactionary as their first album, which is similarly listenable for rhythm alone and in divergence from common form not of enough complexity to hold the attention of an experienced death/grind listener.
Hailing from the school of extreme grindcore (with roots in early Napalm Death and Discharge, along with a 90's sensability of noise influenced by Merzbow, among others), Brutal Truth probably leads to the forefront of bands with little subtle touch. Using dizzying time changes from blast beats to frantic rolls to occasional punkish beats, drummer Rich Hoak sets the pace. Some of the songs are so busy and blurred that they tend to blend together. The listener gets the impression of clustered riffing and feels like they're punching their way out of a paper bag. But occasionally (like on "Jemenez cricket"), Brutal Truth eases up and lets a little breathing space in (but not much).
Brutal Truth's lead grunter/screamer Kevin Sharp's vocals are another defining point to the band. From guttaral death grunts to shrill animalistic screams of agony, you know he ain't singing about falling in love and cruising Sunset Strip. Lyrically, his stream of consciousness mirrors bands like the Minutemen in spirit (especially in "Callous", where the entire lyrical mantra is "you are just callous/you will, will, will never see"...now that is to the point). The final track, "Prey", is twenty minutes of Sharp screaming "Prey" over a looped grind track, gradually building in distortion and noise. This will clear the arena of your choice. Heck, you might even follow.
Overall, this is a impenetrable barrage that is a difficult listen. There is enough undercurrent and raw savage aggression to appeal to the hardcore, death, and noise communities, but be prepared to spend several listens before the grind settles in.
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