Brute Forcz: ‘Brute Forcz’
BRUTE FORCZ
BRUTE FORCZ
Released in 2015
Review:
I am not sure why but heavy metal and wrestling have always had a powerful connection. Back when I was growing up in the 1980s and watching wrestling on television virtually every Saturday morning, it was so cool to see some of my favorite wrestlers enter the ring to heavy metal music. For me, my earliest memory in that regard is seeing the Road Warriors / Legion Of Doom enter the ring to the sounds of Black Sabbath‘s “Iron Man.” In the last decade or so, the most prominent entrance incorporating heavy metal music has to be Triple H‘s entrance to Motörhead‘s “The Game.” And how cool was it to see “Cowboy” James Storm wearing a Sister Sin t-shirt on a wrestling show or the hardcore legend Mick Foley promoting Sister Sin on a YouTube video? And it was a pure pleasure to read Chris Jericho‘s (i.e. Y2J) first book A Lion’s Tale, where Y2J listed all his favorite heavy metal bands while recounting the story of his early years.
While it certainly has been cool to see wrestlers enter the ring or plug their favorite heavy metal bands, what has been embarrassing is to see some of my favorite wrestlers branch out into the music world including heavy metal and releasing some simply awful music. The one wrestler who has made what has to be considered a successful second career out of playing heavy metal is Jericho whose band Fozzy (I still hate that band name) has released seven albums, although the first two were albums filled mostly with covers. Jericho has worked hard at making a name for himself as a legitimate heavy metal singer via Fozzy and although I am sure that he would be very entertaining to see live, partly due to his wrestling background and ability with a microphone, I will most likely always consider him a wrestler first.
This takes me to the four-song EP from Brute Forcz featuring wrestlers Jammer and Slammer. Funny enough, although I have followed wrestling for a number of decades now, I have admittedly only concentrated on one or two wrestling promotions at a time so I did not know about Jammer and Slammer until I received Brute Forcz‘s self-titled EP to review. The first thing that struck my mind as soon as I put the album on was that Jammer simply can’t sing and this would likely be a painful experience. In fact, on most of the tracks, Jammer simply talks his way through rather than even attempt to sing. There is no doubt that the first couple of listens were painful and forced upon myself but I quickly began to appreciate that the music behind the vocals was actually quite good.
“Phat Ass Girls” has an old school ’80s thrash like guitar sound and riffing that carries the song. Once I got used to Jammer‘s vocal delivery, I started really enjoying the song. The same cannot be said for the next track “Death Is The Devil” which is a real plodder while Jammer mostly talks his way through the entire song. The slower pace of the song is probably what kills the song because the spotlight is then completely thrust upon Jammer‘s singing — um, I mean talking. With the pace back up a notch and a very Judas Priest influenced guitar riff, Brute Forcz get back to what they do best on “(Ain’t Gonna) Tear Me Down” which is play almost thrash like paced music based on simple guitar riffs. This track actually has some wicked guitar soloing and I wonder whether it is guest guitarist Rowan Robertson (Dio, DC4 and Bang Tango) delivering the goods in that regard. Brute Forcz‘s self-titled EP closes off with “Nightmare Hell” which is once again a thrash like paced simple guitar riffs. Given the song’s fast pace, Jammer is almost forced to “almost” sing rather than talk on the song.
Clearly, Jammer‘s talking/singing vocal delivery takes some getting used to. After many listens, I find Jammer‘s talking through the songs tolerable for the three faster paced songs on the EP and quite simply very annoying on the slower track “Death Is The Devil.” I’d actually like to see what this band could be capable of if they had someone handling the lead vocals. I note that Jammer also plays bass on Brute Forcz so even if he relinquishes his lead vocal duties, he would presumably not lose his spot in the band. Who knows? Perhaps that is what is needed for Jammer and Slammer to take that next step to make Brute Forcz a real viable second career.
Track List:
01. Phat Ass Girls
02. Death Is The Devil
03. (Ain’t Gonna) Tear Me Down
04. Nightmare Hell
Band Members:
Robbn “Jammer” Steel – bass, vocals
Ronn “Slammer” Steel – drums
D.C. Hexx – guitars
Additional Musicians:
Rowan Robertson – guitars
Production:
Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Bill Metoyer
Co-produced by Brute Forcz
Band Websites:
Official Website
Facebook
Reviewed by Olivier for Sleaze Roxx, July 2016
Brute Forcz‘s “Phat Ass Girls” lyric video:
Brute Forcz // Phat Ass Girls [Lyrics Video]
Artist: Brute Forczhttps://www.facebook.com/bruteforczTrack: Phat Ass GirlsAlbum: Self TitledLabel: Sliptrick RecordsYear: 2016