It's Wednesday, so too late for 'Three-Tune Tuesday' and not weekend enough for 'Alternative Weekend'. Well fuck it, HIVE is all about breaking rules, and when I find a new band I tend to get type-happy.
Brutus, an unremarkable name for a band and about as suitable as HIVE is for a blockchain name. Mental images of Olive Oyl and Popeye may be too old for many to remember, and even then I was very small when watching this slapstick crap from the early part of the last century, and Brutus was always the bad guy.
I looked Brutus up on ProgArchives and was surprised to find no listing. So small and unrecognized to be even listed and the Wikipedia page is also quite sparse.
I tend to like heavy bands with female singers. Finding one who's the drummer as well as the vocalist is almost unheard of... and that voice. Stefanie Mannaerts is no Anneke van Giersbergen when it comes to diversity and pitch diversion but she can't half pump it out.
Did you ever watch those 'Reaction Videos on YouTube? Some band is playing and you are watching another Metalhead whose pulling faces and taking apart the song he or she is listening to.
It's pretty sad and even sadder watching these things, but on this occasion, it led me to 'Sugar Dragon' which had a rare immediate impact.
What struck me was that melancholy sound combined with those massive drums, and its girl thumping them, AND a damn good-looking one which finishes it off. I was lovestruck from the first second.
Have a look at this technique 
The song erupts about halfway through and I wasn’t taken by this part until I had a few listens under my belt. The power and energy is intoxicating for something I would consider ‘Doom Metal’.
In contrast to the former track, 'What Have We Done' is more subdued, at least initially. I did find several live versions of the song that sounded different, more so at the end where it was quite obvious more than three musicians must have been involved.
That voice of ‘Stefanie Mannaerts' intrigues me. In today's world of perfect vocals, I hear imperfections, screechy sounds, erratic screaming, and all things flawed even on the studio version. What a breath of fresh air from today's humdrum.
They don't half make a din considering there's just a lead, bass, and drummer. I think I may be turning into a Metalhead in my old age, that seems to be my new direction. 
I have kind of homed in on Brutus' more recent material which is probably a bad idea in hindsight. Early material tends to be the best and if so, I should listen to it first.
The reason was, I had this nagging feeling the first album was going to be more thrash and less harmonic. 'Lair' is a single from their third album, but that doesn't mean it's radio-friendly. I wouldn't expect any radio play unless it's 'Radio Kerrang’.
There's definitely some harmony here and not mindless noise, but I am quite tolerant of the loud heavy stuff. The Bjork-style voice can be heard again here, but what the video depicts, I haven't the foggiest. I'm thinking of the Templers from Assassin's Creed.
While some of the Brutus material is palatable and listenable, they tend to turn into thrash at a moment's notice at times. 
I will reserve the right to change my mind but Brutus are not in the same league as The Gathering, who are likewise as heavy at times, with added keyboards and significantly more 'Doom' based.
Guitar Image - Source
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