Being a brutal death metal band is a tricky business these days, unless you are simply content with being stale and boring. The field is overcrowded, and there is only so much you can do with that style. Brodequin, however, is one of the few up and coming bands who get it right. Well, sort of. To be exact, they do not create anything original at all, so I will just state right now that those who do not happen to be fans of the style need not bother with this band. Just get Cryptopsy's "None So Vile" instead, if you haven't done so already. Now, if you ARE a big fan of brutal death metal, then you do have something to be excited about because "Instruments Of Torture" is a mean, nasty and, of course, brutal little puppy. Brodequin is most commonly compared to Devourment and Disgorge (the one from California). If those names do not tell you much, then just read on. For a start, the band know very well that this type of music gets tiresome fast, so they wisely keep the album's running time under half an hour (about 25 minutes, to be more precise). The thing that stands out the most musically is the drumming. Relentlessly fast and vicious, it is the driving force for the entire album. Skinsman Chad does not attempt to be as technical and innovative as Cryptopsy's Flo. Instead, he follows his primal instincts and humbly tries to ascertain just how much abuse his drum kit can withstand. The rest of the components are nothing special if considered individually, but somehow they make the whole package work. The vocals are ultra-low and completely indecipherable growls, and as such they function as an extra layer of sound. The riffs are downtuned as usual and pretty simple in structure. They work well for this setting, though, even despite the lacking production. And so does the entire album. Again, Brodequin have not blessed us with anything new and innovative. Rather, they provided a sort of holding action for this type of music, which is a good thing for something as limited and saturated as over-the-top, brutal death metal.

© 2002 boris