Brutus announce new album ‘Unison Life’

After earning a fresh wave of international attention with their recent track ‘Dust’, the genre-blending, emotionally charged Brutus today share their brand new single ‘Liar’. Both songs feature on their upcoming third album ‘Unison Life’, which will be released on October 21st via Hassle Records / Sargent House, and is now available to pre-order / pre-save HERE.

‘Liar’ is fundamentally Brutus, starting off with a snaking guitar riff, it lifts off into an anthemic post-rock chorus. Sonically, it feels like a bridge between their previous album ‘Nest’ and the upcoming ‘Unison Life’, combining the changes of direction they’re known for with the concentrated force of the new album. In contrast to ‘Dust’, which was born out of the frustration of the demanding behaviour of friends, ‘Liar’ instead realises that the challenges within some relationships need to be faced head-on.

Vocalist / drummer Stefanie Mannaerts says, “When things get a bit more difficult or when relationships demand too much energy, I choose to avoid confronting things, or just lie about it for the sake of keeping the peace. At that point it just seems like the easy thing to do so that nobody gets hurt. But in the long run, those well-intentioned lies will catch up with you, and the peace you thought you’d found turns out to be an illusion.”

The band translated this duality of lies and life behind a mask into the accompanying video for ‘Liar’, for which Stefanie and director Maximiliaan Dierickx travelled to the desert near Marrakech and Essaouira in Morocco to capture.

‘Unison Life’ is Brutus at their most intentional. It’s an album of extremes, and a blistering illustration of a boundary-pushing band at the top of their game. The heavy parts are even heavier, and the gentle moments are more melodic than ever before. Thematically, it’s similarly exploratory, questioning whether a life of contentment is a myth or a challenge, a delusion or a goal. This new album also sees the band more deliberate about their sound than ever, having had the time and space to really consider their direction due to the global pause on touring.

Stefanie comments, “I wanted every song to feel like the last song we’ll ever write. It killed me inside because it’s almost an impossibly high standard, but that was my personal goal for this album. It was a two-year quest of trying to do better.”

That’s precisely what Brutus have achieved throughout the album. Completed by guitarist Stijn Vanhoegaerden and bassist Peter Mulders, the band’s disparate influences – post-metal, electronica, punk, country and melodic rock – have combined to create a sound that’s as heavy as it is unexpected, and full of beauty and surprises.

Brutus’s previous studio albums have seen the Belgian trio win widespread admiration for their, brave emotionally charged mix of hardcore, metal, post-rock and shoegaze. Earning critical acclaim across Europe and the States, the band have played shows with Deftones, Chelsea Wolfe, Thrice and Russian Circles, as well as paise from fellow musicians such as Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro), Ben Koller (Converge) and Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan).

Brutus recently announced the following UK tour dates, which represent their first shows here in over three years. Remaining tickets for the gigs are available HERE, as are a list of their upcoming European festival dates.

NOVEMBER

16th – Bristol, The Fleece

17th – Manchester, Rebellion

18th – Glasgow, Audio

19th – Leeds, Lending Room

21st – Brighton, Patterns

22nd – London, The Garage