What The Hell Happened To... 09.29.08: Brutal Truth - Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response

Posted by Dan Marsicano on 09.29.2008

This week, Dan Marsicano ends Fan Appreciation Month with a look at grindcore Brutal Truth's debut album, Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response, and gives a look ahead to the coming weeks.

The Introduction

As Fan Appreciation Month draws to a close, What The Hell Happened To… ends the month with a bang in more ways than one. Hello, I'm Dan Marsicano, your self-appointed legendary music critic of 411 Mania.

First of all, if you didn't hear the news last week, I have a blog! Yep, finally, I expanded my communication skills and got enough motivation to create a blog. This blog will be on underground/underrated rock and metal bands in the Northeast, mostly in the Tri-State area. If you readers have any bands, either ones you are in or ones you know that want some publicity, let me know. I'll have stories, interviews, reviews, funny quips, and opinionated pieces, most of which is exclusive to my blog. I will update it every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting this week, so be prepared for the evolution of metal blogging. Click here for my new blog!

Also, in either the most exciting, or the most "who gives a shit," news article of the week, Guns N' Roses's long-delayed album Chinese Democracy will be exclusively released through Best Buy. I am personally thrilled by the news, as this means that something has to come out this year from the band. Maybe it's just me being optimistic, but I see this thing being out on shelves by early December in the latest. Will it be good? That's the ultimate question, but my money is on it being decent, but not groundbreaking…sort of like Death Magnetic...


Fuck it, it won't come out this year and if it does, and it won't, it's going to suck.

That felt a lot better.

Now, some of you may be looking at the album I picked, Brutal Truth's 1992 debut Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response. The album was selected by bobbyhjayes, but you might have a few questions wandering through your mind. Who is this band? What the hell is he doing analyzing grindcore? Who is this BAND? I'm assuming most of you are in the first and third category, but let me explain.

I am a music critic, one who takes great pride in looking at many different genres throughout rock and metal. Throughout the 45+ weeks of What The Hell Happened To…, I've covered everything from progressive metal to rap to death metal and all places in-between. One genre, however, has been left out of the equation the whole time; grindcore. While some of you may argue the credibility of the genre, I am here today to show you all an album that takes the basic formula of grindcore and incorporates several other elements to become an album that is way more than your standard brutally fast grindcore affair.





The Band

Kevin Sharpe - Vocals
Brent McCarty - Guitars
Danny Lilker – Bass, Additional Vocals, Samples
Scott Lewis – Drums


The Track Listing

1. P.S.P.I-.33
2. Birth Of Ignorance-3:29
3. Stench Of Profit-1:23
4. Ill-Neglect-2:24
5. Denial Of Existence-4:25
6. Regression/Progression-2:34
7. Collateral Damage-.04
8. Time-5:59
9. Walking Corpse-1:40
10. Monetary Gain-3:26
11. Wilt-2:53
12. H.O.P.E-2:04
13. Blockhead-.07
14. Anti-Homophobic-3:11
15. Unjust Compromise-10:51


The Analysis

Brutal Truth was formed by bassist Dan Lilker in the early 90's, after leaving Nuclear Assault. Lilker was also a member of Anthrax during their Fistful Of Metal days, which we all remember today for being a lot gayer than we thought it was back in 1984. Brutal Truth took Lilker into a genre that was relatively unknown to fans of the bassist; grindcore. Taking the helms, Lilker's songwriting seemed like a perfect fit for grindcore, but with his own unique touch, one that most bands in the genre strayed away from.

Instead of pure grindcore, Lilker incorporated hardcore, death metal, and doom metal elements to form a mish-mash of sound that was all over the place musically. Brutal Truth's 1992 debut Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response was received well by grindcore fans, yet still didn't achieve the band the fame of Napalm Death and Carcass.

Now, some of you may crucify me over the next paragraph, I'm going to warn you. After spending a few weeks with Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response, I find myself enjoying it more than Scum or Reek Of Purification. Both of those albums are staples of the genre and I don't want to shorthand their importance to the evolution of grindcore. However, what Brutal Truth brings to the table is a debut album that shows the direction grindcore was heading in during the 90's and going a step further.



"The Birth Of Ignorance" Live 2007 (Credit: Metal Nick)


For those unaware, during the early to mid 90's, grindcore was becoming more than just blastbeats and minute and a half songs. Death metal was creeping its way into the sound of more and more grindcore bands, with the lengths being extended and the melodies slowing down immensely. While some fans may have scoffed at this, I found it to be refreshing, to see a band not be pigeonholed into one style and having enough maturity and creative songwriting skills to work outside the box.

That's probably why I gripped onto Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response so tightly from the beginning. I see the vision of a man who had a chance to run his own band and took every advantage of it. Lilker makes sure that his bass is right up front in the mix and clear, unlike most early grindcore albums. Lilker's bass adds a touch of class to the proceedings and is one of his best recorded performances of his career. Brutal Truth made sure, from the very start, that grindcore fans knew what they were getting themselves into.

"Birth Of Ignorance" is a lumbering giant waiting to be awaken, which the band happily does a minute in, with pounding double bass and piercing screeches from vocalist Kevin Sharpe. This giant fucks up everything in its path, not giving the listener a second to breathe. "Stench Of Profit" continues this destruction, with a minute and a half of pure grindcore, with blastbeats that will terrorize you in your sleep.

I hope my earlier paragraphs didn't mislead you about the direction of Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response. While Lilker and company experiment with other genres, this is still a good old fashioned grindcore album. "Walking Corpse" is insane, with a minute and forty seconds of nothing but brutality, leaving carcasses of the dead and dismembered behind as a calling card. Of course, since this is a grindcore album, there has to be super-duper short songs that make little to no sense. Cue "Collateral Damage" and "Blockhead." Both of these songs combined only reach the ten second mark, with the former actually having the world record for shortest video ever, clocking in at a mere 2.5 seconds.



"Collateral Damage" Official Music Video


Don't worry, most of the tracks run past the two minute mark. Some of you may ask "Well, Dan, does that make it grindcore then? Isn't short songs a major characteristic of the genre?"

First of all, shut the hell up. Second of all, you're right, but don't get too excited. Just because some of the songs go near the six minute mark doesn't make the band any less rooted in grindcore. The thing is, every song is rooted there, but the roots branch out instead of going in a straight line. This helps to form the metal tree of death, or the anti-Tree of Knowledge.

"Denial Of Existence" has a slow, Obituary-ish opening that picks up quickly. Everything in the track builds up to a riff three minutes in that knocked me off my chair the first time. I almost needed a neck fusion from all the headbanging I did. Imagine if the opening riff to Pantera's "Walk" was a death metal riff and that's basically how amazing it is.

Another amazing track is the epic "Time," which ironically, was also the name of a song on Anthrax's 1990 album Persistence of Time. Starting with a heavy mix of pulsating drum work and throaty growls, the sudden switch to doom metal is jarring and poignant. Most grindcore drummers struggle to go any speed that isn't fast, but Lewis is a tight enough drummer to know when to control himself, something more drummers in the genre can learn. From there, its doom metal out of the Novembers Doom playbook. A quick bass solo brings the listener back to speed with grinding goodness before retreating back to the darkness for a fading conclusion.

"Unjust Compromise," the other epic track, also starts out speedy before slowing down to a crawl. However, unlike "Time," the grind is around for two minutes to help listeners slowly lose their hearing as the seconds go on. The song ends with an extended outro, where the band is at a snails pace for three minutes, building up to a solid jam session to end the album on a high note.



"Walking Corpse" Live


Something else that deserves recognition on Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response is the lyrical content, which is deep and thought-provoking ala Napalm Death. Now, yes, it can be hard at times to decipher the lyrics, what with the growling, screeching, and rasps going on. Having lyrics in front of you helps to crack the puzzle each song unfolds and shows that the band is a lot more than about violent or racist lyrics. Each track has a message to it, most noticeably in "Anti-Homophobic." Unlike their contemporaries, Brutal Truth takes a different approach to homosexuals, embracing their lifestyle choices and not judging based on initial impressions.

"Ignorant in thought.
Distorts your twisted values.
Break your ancient chains.
And part with the ways of the past.
You don't have the right.
To force you own opinion.
You don't understand.
So you have to lash out.

Anti - homophobe.

We believe in freedom.
Whatever turns you on.
Life is short and full of woe.
So you have yourself a blast.
I may not be gay.
But I don't care if you are.
Live your life in peace.
And fuck them if they laugh."


On the musical front, Kevin Sharpe is a monster on the vocals, utilizing different styles and ranges. He is able to switch to each of them on the fly, going from a raspy growl to a screech that would hurt a cat's ears. Brent McCarty may be the only guitarist on the album, but it sure doesn't sound like it. McCarty provides the wall of sound that overtakes every aspect of the album, and while he doesn't do any crazy solos or anything, his rhythm work more than makes up for it. In his only performance with the band, Scott Lewis is the MVP of Brutal Truth, displaying technical and tasteful drumming that not only benefits the album, but seems to motivate the band to a whole other level. It's a shame he didn't continue to play with the band, as I would have loved to have heard more from Lewis.

Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response is an enjoyable debut album from Brutal Truth and, sadly, one that was largely forgotten in the metal community, save for grindcore fans. Even then, only the die-hards only know about them. It's a shame that they don't get the recognition they deserve, as a band that arguably pushed the limits of grindcore further than anybody could have anticipated. While their later albums are a little better, their debut was Brutal Truth at their most…brutal. Wow, that sounded awkward, didn't it? Oh well, there's no better way I could have said it. So, fans of metal and grindcore, give Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Response a listen. Hell, you might even become latched onto it, like I did.


The Conclusion

Sorry, boys and girls, not enough time this week to do a Who The Hell Is…Check my blog for a new band later this week!

Well, this is it for Fan Appreciation Month. I want to thank everybody who participated; you readers make all this work worth it. Don't worry if I didn't pick your choice, as I will probably use it in a future column. I won't give you any credit, but you'll know I was listening to your demands.

Next week, it is back to normal around What The Hell Happened To…and boy do I have a couple of great weeks ahead for you readers, including a look at Brand New, Puddle Of Mudd, and Nine Inch Nails. Just to wet your appetite, I'll give you a hint about next week: Limp Bizkit. Oh yeah, I said it. You don't want to miss that one, trust me. So until next week, take it easy everybody!