My music taste has been all over the place since this whole quarantine thing. Some days I feel somber and revert back to my days of Dashboard Confessional and Death Cab For Cutie. Some days I’m feeling adventourous and dig for some new music that I can obsess over (most recently that has been The Chats, Ashnikko, and random Spotify curated playlists full of what the youths are listening to today). Other days I’m feeling angry about the whole situation and fall into playlists revolving around Slipknot and Harm’s Way. Yeah, it’s been all over the place and this morning was one of those mornings that I just really had no taste for anything musically. Did I want to get some aggression out, relive the past while lost in a cloud of nostalgia, or find something soothing and calm to just get stuff done around the house? I couldn’t decide but I knew the second I put on ‘Brutal Machine’ by Trinity Test that that was the sound I needed this morning.
My sleepy Sunday morning was rudely awakened as I pushed play on this six song release from Minneapolis based Trinity Test. The first track “Watch Me Die” holds nothing back and instantly gets you moving. Sam’s vocals invoke a sense of aggression and power that, regardless of what music-listening mood you’re in, will surely hit the spot. The opening track is fast paced and in your face but veers away from being chaotic with the way that every note and every word is performed with intention and conviction.
The title track, “Brutal Machine”, keeps with the controlled chaos. This is one of those songs that I instantly found myself lost in the image of being at a show with burly metalheads swirling all around me in sweaty mess of a mosh pit. This song came off as political to me which, in this climate, is all too timely. Whether it’s meant to be a political statement or not, this is a banger of a track and I found myself listening to it a couple of times before moving on to “Fight”.
The mosh pit turns into a circle pit as “Fight” kicks in. This track has that control edging ever so dangerously to the chaos side of things while somehow not falling into the trap. At under two minutes, this track flew by but not before becoming my favorite on this quick release. There’s something about the drumming in this song that stood out to me. The starts, breaks, and complicated patterns that Dean plays throughout this song had me stuck. Especially the little drum break he has around the 1 minute, 10 second mark. I honestly can’t tell you what it is about it but the perfection that Dean plays with along with the true respect the other musicians give him during this quick little break was intense.
“Nu Serf” felt familiar to me in the best way possible and it took me a couple of listens to realize that I had heard this track on Trinity Test’s self titled album. What I said then stands true to this listen through. With Sam’s vocals being the driving force, the chugging guitars and steady drums “Nu Serf” is one of those catchy songs that will instantly get stuck in your head and will absolutely have you wanting to catch this powerhouse of a band live once we all get out of this quarantine. Although the same song from their self titled album, the new mixing and mastering done on ‘Brutal Machine’ makes this song stand out even more and gives it the spotlight that it deserves.
As the album wrapped up, Trinity Test still had a couple tricks up their sleeves and “This Ain’t Revenge” is one of those tricks that ended up being another favorite of mine on this album. With drums going at warped speed and Sam’s vocals staying on tempo with what seemed like an impossible sense of ease, the call and response element of this song was something that I really, really loved. “This ain’t revenge!” being followed up with “This is war!” is such a simple line of words but the way Trinity Test turned it into a sort of call and response made it stick out and made it even catchier than it already is.
Closing out the album is “Homophobia is Gay” which is another track that I instantly recognized as being from Trinity Test’s self-titled album. It felt like the band had kicked this song into overdrive with this new release. A slightly faster tempo and better mixing and mastering, when listening to the two releases back to back they are clearly the same song but so different from each other and the re-worked track on ‘Brutal Machine’ definitely takes the cake.
Trinity Test’s self titled album came out in April of last year. ‘Brutal Machine’ came out in April of this year. The clear progression and major moves forward this band is making is impressive and the fact that their sound has evolved and been perfected so much over just one year is almost shocking. Once this whole quarantine mess is all over, I have no doubt that Trinity Test will be making even bigger moves and quickly get the recognition they clearly deserve.
If you’re like me and don’t quite know what to listen to right now but have a soft spot for punk and metal sounds I absolutely suggest checking out ‘Brutal Machine’. It will turn your sleepy day spent at home into something a bit more special and a bit more energetic with ease.
My Favorite Track(s): “Fight”; “This Ain’t Revenge”
For Fans Of: Heavy hitting drums; aggression; old school punk music with a flair
Daydream-ability: 4.2 out of 10
What My Cats Thought Of It: Artie tried knocking the speaker off my desk (he doesn’t like heavy music); Autumn sat on my stairs and stared at me
How Badly I Want To See This Performed Live: 10 out of 10
My Overall Rating: 4.2 out of 5
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