I’ve been a fan of Deaf Kids and also of Wayne Adams’ various forms of output for quite a while now, but I’ve not really had the opportunity to cover anything proper from either so far. I’ll say going into it that I’m not familiar with any of Igor Cavelera’s work aside from Petbrick, but from what I’ve heard he’s really fucking good. At the moment, I’m valuing heavy music a lot more, I really believe in the importance of art as catharsis and social commentary working hand-in-hand and I feel like anything that is not soul-crushing in this era is really just escapism that doesn’t really do anything for me. Having recently reviewed new albums from Sex Swing, Radar Men From The Moon, Oranssi Pazuzu and Boris, I’m really interested to see just how 2020 this collaboration is and I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty fucking relentless.
After a slow-burning intro ‘Forca Bruta’ pours jet fuel on the album, slamming thrash metal infused post-psyche brutality into the listeners brain with the force of a falling piano. It has a similar vibe to Chaudelande-era Gnod in the way the guitars and vocals sit, which works for me. Overall, as a second track kind of functioning as a first, it’s fucking nuts and I love it. Needless to say, the drums are incredible on this album, absolutely savage. I think in terms of “songs”, ‘Maquina Obsessivo-Compulsiva’ is probably my favourite ‘cause it has the most to offer in terms of chorus and refrain. It’s the catchiest.
There’s a lot of great instrumentation that is gonna be fucking mind-blowing live, but without these kind of stand-out melodies or refrains as in the highlighted tracks thus far, I personally, won’t think to play it. I like a cool soundtrack as much as anyone else but, for instrumental music, I think there has to be moments where things take centre stage and hit hard. For me, there’s passages here where it kind of feels a bit jammy and kind of cool. Not like anything’s really going on and that tunes me out, but there’s also moments that are absolute fucking batshit.
For example, ‘Mega-ritual’ which sounds like a molten hot take on Lightning Bolt, that I love. As well as things like the synths in ‘The Menace of the Dark Polar Night’ that sound like some kind of alien communication or something from Nine Inch Nails’ Year Zero. Actually, ‘Mega-ritual’ is probably my favourite original track on here, I really like the vocals. ’Free Speech for the Dumb’, I was told by guest guitarist Matt Ridout (Casual Nun, Mummise Guns), is actually a cover of a band called Discharge who I’ve since been checking out.
The reason I love this is that there’s all of the elements that I like on this album instrumentally and there’s a very clear hook as well, which makes it an ear-worm. I heard Gordon Watson of Luminous Bodies and Terminal Cheesecake is on this track as well and I guess he’s doing vocals and some guitar shredding? This track is fucking great though, probably the best route into discovering DEAFBRICK in my opinion. The commentary at the end of the song is fucking hilarious as well “DEAFBRICK that was fucking deaf shit”. Then, the sample says “Metallica would do a better version” – absolutely savage, I love it. So fucking funny.
‘Primeval II’ like it’s predecessor book ends the album nicely and acts to shape the way the listener experiences the overall pacing of the record. I guess, the key takeaways from DEAFBRICK is that there’s loads of great mad shit going on and there’s also bits where they give you a bit of a break that personally, I didn’t actually want, but I’m sure a lot of people will… I love how heavy it is in parts and there’s definitely tracks here that I’m gonna spin for ages, but most of all I’m seeing this as a teaser for me to watch this collaboration live. Having seen Big Lad and Deaf Kids live numerous times, I know any project with these guys in it are gonna put on a fucking amazing totally must-see live show.
