Whether you like their ‘no-fucks given’ attitude or not, it’s hard to deny that in a short matter of time, Welsh hard-hitters in Brutality Will Prevail have changed their status from UK hardcore newcomers to heavyweights. Over the years, the band’s history has been marked by multiple line-up changes; last one to date being the departure of Ajay right after the release of their latest LP, Scatter The Ashes. People have been moaning and talking a lot about the way the band and vocalist have parted ways and despite these intern conflicts, everyone moved on. From this fresh starts results Suspension Of Consciousness, BWP’s fourth album and the first one with Louis Gauthier, former Breaking Point frontman.

For those who have followed them since their early years (and for those who don’t), you know BWP has been strongly influenced by more than hardcore music. Their beat-down hardcore anthems mix with a varied scale of genre such as sludge, doom or 90’s metal. Tracked in just six days at Monnow Valley Studios (Black Sabbath, Funeral For A Friend…) and mixed by Kurt Ballou, Suspension Of Consciousness displays the band in the same approach as on their previous LP’s while bringing a bit more eclectic elements and more experimentation, for better or worse.

A short barren intro later, the first drum poundings and the nervous opening riff of ‘Tower of Silence’ makes us understand that BWP is back in business. Their recipe hasn’t changed so much: vicious riffs, slower-paced sludge moments, hardcore racing acceleration and more metallic guitar tones. One might have feared a certain confinement in the band’s methodology but it’s luckily not always the case. There’s one characteristic that BWP has not lost and that’s the heaviness they filled their moshpit-friendly anthems with. There are some really good moments on this record such as ‘Abandon’, the first boisterous single that shows this particular progression of the band’s sound, and very fierce other songs such as ‘Martyr-Anxiety’, ‘Pray for Cleansing’ and ‘Back To The Earth’. However, it seems that Brutality is missing on some passages and does not actually sound like it should be to sound both efficient and innovative (‘Escapist’, ‘Burden of Love’).

The comparison between the two vocalists obviously needs to be made and we certainly must mention the pretty decent performance from Louis Gauthier throughout this album. Where Ajay’s used to be more old school, Gauthier’s strength lies in tone changes, very severe and angry screams at times and more melodic instants that could be confusing for some diehard fans. There’s also a few unnecessary instrumentals scattered on the record (‘Ritual’, ‘Celephais’, ‘La Mascara Mortuoria’) that sadly makes it lack of cohesion. While diversifying their tracks and showing more diversity and experimentation than before (the closing title, really in tune with their infused-metal approach), this new record from BWP is quite enjoyable and easy to immerge into but the hitch lies in the lack of breathtaking moments and a certain identity loss. Suspension Of Consciousness is far from being bad but it maybe doesn’t have outstanding moments that could have make him a burner of a record.

At the edge of their ten years as a band and with the intention to go onwards, this band looks like it’s going onwards no matter what. Even if Suspension Of Consciousness is maybe not everything we hoped the follow up to Scatter The Ashes to be, it’s varied enough and still very heavy for us to enjoy it. It’s out now via Siege Of Amida and Century Media Records. Get it!

Track list – Suspension Of Consciousness:

01. Delirium
02. Tower of Silence
03. Abandon
04. Martyr Anxiety
05. Pray for Cleansing
06. Ritual
07. Escapist
08. Celephais
09. Back to the Earth
10. Burden of Love
11. La Mascara Mortuoria
12. Suspension Of Consciousness

Written By Alex Tabankia