Album of the Year 2016 – Number 15

I can’t quite believe that I am already half-way through my ‘Album of the Year 2016’ top 30 countdown. It doesn’t seem like five minutes ago that I was contemplating starting out of this annual journey and yet, here we are. 15 albums down, 15 to go.

I hope you have enjoyed the posts in this series up to now – if you are new to this series however, or if you’ve shamefully missed any of my posts, you can find links at the bottom of this post.

And with that, here’s the next album in my list:

Number 15

Brutai
Born
Transcend Music

“Sitting her now, I am firmly of the opinion that if I wanted to listen to a more modern style of heavy metal, Brutai are the band and ‘Born’ is my chosen weapon. A few weeks ago, I might have chosen Textures but today, it is Brutai. Yup, ‘Born’ is that good.

‘Born’ is incisive, sharp and clinical, full of strong riffs, muscular rhythms as well as moments of extreme yet measured brutality. At the same time however, Brutai demonstrate a well-honed sense of melody and overt pop sympathies, allowing their compositions to bludgeon one moment and then soar majestically the next. I have to frequently remind myself that this is Brutai’s debut full-length, because it is just so adept, so commanding and so self-assured. It might be late in the day, but ‘Born’ is deservedly one of my albums of the year. The only problem? How on Earth do they top it?”

Read the full review here

Photo credit: Will Ireland Photography

Make no mistake about it, the only reason why this album is not within the top 10 for 2016 is because it was only released less than a month ago. As such, I’ve not had it in my life as long as all of the other contenders and I’ve not been allowed to let it mature and develop over time. But that is it, no other reason.

As debuts go, this is arguably one of the strongest I’ve heard, alongside the likes of Earthside from last year. It has blown me away and, judging by the comments I’ve received and heard from other quarters, I’m not the only one. I don’t think I’ve seen a negative review anywhere about ‘Born’. That, in itself, says a lot.

Personally, I absolutely love the blend of heaviness, aggression and melody that Brutai delivers. From pop-like accessibility to all-out thunderous metal, from modern to classic and from the simple to the technical it is the combination of all of these facets that helps Brutai be the massively exciting proposition that they are. Sometimes I can be critical of bands who try to be all things to all people. However, where Brutai are concerned, they have pulled it off, seemingly effortlessly, leaving others to scratch their heads and wonder why they couldn’t do it.

‘Born’ is magnificent, hopefully just the first step in a long and fruitful career.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrYnWehkSCQ&w=560&h=315]

In case you’ve missed any of the other posts in the 2016 series, here they are for you to explore and enjoy:

And from previous years:

Album of the Year 2015
Album of the Year 2014
Album of the Year 2013
Album of the Year 2012

Album of the Year 2016 – Number 15

NEVER MISS ANY NEW CONTENT