Brutality

SEA OF IGNORANCE

Having enjoying a relatively successful decade of destruction that yielded three acclaimed albums and a fistful of EPs, Florida’s Brutality decided to call it a day in the mid-90s. However, the lure of getting the band back together proved too tempting for the death metal mob and, after a few failed attempts to resurface, they were properly reborn in 2012. Having released an EP and numerous retrospectives since, the band’s comeback album proper, Sea Of Ignorance, is the sound of a rejuvenated group who haven’t missed a (blast)beat despite the 20-year gap between albums. The title track opens the opus strongly and is brimming with dizzying time changes, melodic guitar leads and thunderous drums.

48 To 52 is another impressive statement of intent and flirts with doom, thrash and NWOBHM over the course of its neckbothering six minutes. Their cover of Bathory’s Shores In Flames comes as a welcome curveball and the fairly faithful rendition successfully retains the eerie atmosphere of the original while injecting it with more aggression.