Here at Moshville Times we have always tried our best to promote local scenes throughout these fair isles, including showcasing new and up and coming bands. After all, these guys are the bread and butter of the scene. And so when we received a copy of a three track EP from new Glasgow doomsters Brethren it piqued my interest. I mean you can’t get much more local than that for us at Moshville HQ and doom happens to be a favourite genre of mine.
Brethren are a three piece comprising Stephen Plunkett on guitars and vocals, Phil Donnelly on bass and vocals and Emma Kelly on drums. The band label their sound as more “gloom” than doom and three track EP The Barb represents the band’s first release. As the PR notes more eloquently describe, it aims to take the listener on a short journey through “this cosmic joke or our absurd existence”. Bleak indeed but what say of the music…
From the opening strains of title track “The Barb” it would seem to do exactly as it says on the tin. This song lumbers on balefully, telling the tale of a poor soul’s cruel demise from the “Barb of the Harpoon”. There are some nice touches including a Cathedral-esque down-tuned guitar break midway through which is the highlight of the track for me.
Speaking of highlights, track two “An Orbit Decayed” is a clear standout on the record, beginning with a truly solemn woe-ridden intro which develops into a monster of plodding heaviness. It is driven again by Stephen P’s down-tuned guitar and a riff breakdown mid-way which again takes the listener back to Forest of Equilibrium and just hangs there splendidly. Final track “Superceding Yellow” sits somewhere in between the first two, with the main guitar riff bringing necessary focus to a song which perhaps threatens to meander a tad too much.
Sound-wise, there are all the classic doom hallmarks from the rumbling, fuzzy bass to the aforementioned down-tuned guitars. Vocally, Donnelly’s solemn and foreboding tones are well complemented by Plunkett’s more menacing attack which is used to good effect throughout. The drumming holds proceedings together well enough but can perhaps seem a bit ponderous at times.
Produced and mixed by John Paterson at Cottage Studios, the sound quality is excellent for a first recording and brings a crispness which, though it may dilute some of the traditional heaviness of the record (however, this may be down in the main to the lack of a second guitar), gives it an overall clean sound which complements the main lyrical themes well and plays foil to the more basic doomy moments.
All in all a really good debut from these guys and one you should check it out. Let’s hope there is more to come…
The Barb is out now on Better Than Dead Records
Brethren: bandcamp
