Het komt mij voor dat er niet zo heel erg veel death/thrashmetal uit Australië onze kant op komt. Als dan iets mijn pad kruist, ben ik altijd erg benieuwd. Gelukkig maar, want anders had is misschien deze release gemist. De in 2018 opgerichte band Shatter Brain komt namelijk met het debuut full length album Pitchfork Justice.
De supersnelle gitaargeluiden combineren prachtig met de strakke drums. Tezamen met de donderde bas van ex-Mammoth bassist Pat Callaghan vormt het een solide fundament om de strot van Tom Santamaria op te trekken. Shatter Brain is een van de voorbeelden waarbij alleszins zuiver en strak instrumentgeluid gepaard gaat met grunttechnieken, afgewisseld met een mooie cleane zangstem. Pitchfork Justice is absoluut een kleine drie kwartier van je leven waard. Misschien ga je het, net als ik, wel vaker luisteren.
Releasedatum: 1 mei 2020
luister
lees
Comprised of members of some of South Australia’s most successful heavy bands, Shatter Brain are an Adelaide based metal band boasting a heavy and pummelling sound reminiscent of acts like High on Fire, Black Breath, and Power Trip, with the occasional nod to classic metal and crossover.
Shatter Brain began in January 2018, releasing a four-song demo that was recorded and mixed by guitarist Jack Hartley and mastered by Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust, Power Trip, Cavalera Conspiracy). This demo allowed the band to tour throughout Australia, New Zealand and even Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia as direct support for Brazilian crossover-thrash legends R.D.P. (Ratos de Porão).
Upon returning to Australia, Shatter Brain released a split vinyl EP (aptly titled “The Twelve Inch Split”) with Melbourne band Blunt Shovel in early August and embarked on another tour with King Parrot and Blunt Shovel. The Twelve Inch Split featured two new Shatter Brain songs and a cover of the Mastodon classic “Blood and Thunder”.
Shatter Brain began 2019 with a tour of Japan and returned to Australia to open for Max and Iggor Cavalera’s (Sepultura) “Return to Beneath the Arise” tour. Following those shows Shatter Brain started the recordings of their debut album “Pitchfork Justice” with Jimmy Balderston at Ghostnote Recording Studios (Scott Kelly, Sumeru, Space Bong), which is now set for release worldwide via Wormhole Death/Aural Music in May 2020.
Pitchfork Justice contains nine cohesive songs that are a unique blend of sludge metal, old-school thrash, and hardcore, with modern and diverse vocals. The production is lively and bombastic, as well as punchy and aggressive, and the lyrics make a strong statement about the current state of the world, particularly around social media and PC culture.
Having started the year by supporting punk-metal legends Integrity (USA) and grindcore/death metal pioneers Carcass (UK), and with their debut album on the way, 2020 is shaping up to be the biggest year yet for Shatter Brain!
