Written: 20th March
From the moment they were formed in 1998, Brodequin – named after a French torture device - set about producing some of the fiercest death metal ever released. Their debut album Instruments of Torture led to instant recognition (including from members of other notable death metal bands) due to the unrelenting brutality of their music and the visceral lyrical aspects of their songs. “This band has stuck out in the underground with relentless, barbaric intensity,” says Dying Fetus’ vocalist and guitarist John Gallagher, who named Instruments of Torture one of the most brutal death metal albums ever. This is the band’s first new album for twenty years. “We had a series of deaths in our family,” bassist and vocalist Jamie Bailey explains. “Mike and I knew we had to step away until we had the time and were at a place mentally to give Brodequin the attention it deserved.”
Harbinger of Woe - which includes both tracks (Tenaillement and VII Nails) from their 2021 EP - is thirty-two minutes of the most intense, vehement and consistently brutal death metal listeners are likely to encounter this year. Focusing on the medieval period, the band painfully dissect different elements of torture, dismemberment and sickening abuse of power. First track Diabolical Edict hits like the right hook of a heavyweight champion from the opening second. Amongst introductory screams of pain and a demand to confess, it does not cease in its pummelling attack for a moment. Examining the trial and torture of Urbain Grandier, a French Catholic priest who was ultimately burned at the stake in 1634 after being convicted of witchcraft, the opening song pulls no punches in its description of the agony he suffered. Refusing to plead priests seize / The tools & drive the final wedges / Legs reduced to pulp / Marrow flows from the wounds. Within the first three and half minutes of the album, Brodequin prove they have lost none of their belligerent fire.
If it were possible, Fall of the Leaf further steps up the tempo and the caustic timbres. “There simply was no point in history that was more brutal than the medieval period,” says Jamie. “At the same time that such barbarity was deployed, there was also an explosion in fine art, architecture and music. It all comes to feed our identity as a band.” Drawing back the curtain on the stomach-churning practices of the time, Brodequin use the vehicle of brutal death metal to paint an unforgiving but realistic picture of the time in which the songs are set. Drummer Brennan Shackleton’s torrid blast beats are so potent that moments without them, even though still frenziedly aggressive, give space for variation across the album.
Theresiana’s quieter threatening start makes the listener believe we may be spared from the unwavering pounding, until ten seconds in, we are grabbed by the throat, putting an end to any form of pity. The track’s title refers to a penal code issued in 1768 by the Austrian ruler Maria Theresa which substantially restricted the use of torture in some but not all areas of Europe. Haunting choral voices are heard just before the searing main riff begins and James Bailey (brother of Mike) begins his putrid, phlegmy vocal contribution. Precisely following the code as prescribed / To be roasted alive / Prisoners require a Jesuit on each side / Only the savage / scream with thee.
As the band continue their harrowing expedition through flesh-tearing tracks such as Maleficium and Vredens Dag, the smothering tones of pain and death build irrepressibly. Like those who are sentenced to a horrific death in a hail of ash trapped inside a tower, on Suffocation In Ash, listeners struggle for breath in the cloying, unyielding atmospheres. However, for an album of this nature, the production qualities are high; drums – while monumental – never threaten to overwhelm the barrage of riffs from guitar and relentless hammer blows of the bass. Jamie Bailey’s impassive, guttural vocals, which mirror the lack of remorse or will to cease by those responsible for torturing the unfortunate victims, sit buried enough in the mix to feel bludgeoning but not so deep that they are completely lost within the constant brutality.
Lead single, Of Pillars and Trees is a non-stop disturbingly violent attack during which punishing, colossal riffs rise like mountainous edifices at every turn. Mike Bailey is playing as well as ever and Brodequin are determined to prove they have lost none of the volcanic power. Having decided to return, the band were surprised by the level of interest in them and tell the story of signing to their new label. “Brodequin had been away for so long that I was stunned by the level of interest from fans and record labels,” Jamie says. “Before playing Hellfest, the band was approached backstage by a metalhead rocking a Brodequin t-shirt who happened to work for Season of Mist. Soon enough, they were hitting it off with Michael Berberian. The rest, as they say, is history. We all hung out for hours. The extraordinary level of enthusiasm shown toward our music made Season of Mist the obvious choice.”
Harbinger of Woe – the band’s fourth full-length album - which concludes with the title track, is the mark of band that have picked up exactly where they left off. Make no mistake, this is not an easy album to listen to, despite its relatively short running and with the lyrics beside you, there is no avoiding the clutches of the Knoxville based trio’s vitriolic condemnation of your sins. However, Brodequin never intended to make a return simply to entertain. In their aim to describe – through both lyrics and music – an unedited, unshielded portrayal of darker times, they have succeeded admirably. Proceed with caution and plan your escape in advance. Brodequin are coming for you….
Harbinger Of Woe is released on 22nd March 2024
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