BRAVE THE COLD — Scarcity (review)

BRAVE THE COLD — Scarcity album cover Album · 2020 · Deathgrind Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Scarcity" is the debut full-length studio album by US deathgrind act Brave The Cold. The album was released through Mission Two Entertainment in October 2020. Brave The Cold was founded in 2018 by guitarist/bassist/lead vocalist Mitch Harris, and Belgian drummer Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth, Soilwork..etc.) was added to complete the two-piece lineup. "Scarcity" was released only a month after "Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (2020)" by Napalm Death. An album Harris also played on. Circumstances in Harris life meant he and his family moved back to Las Vegas after living almost two decades in the UK, and his position in Napalm Death is at this moment still undecided. Officially he is taking a break from the band and his touring duties are covered by session musicians. Although Harris hasn´t toured with Napalm Death for quite a few years, his career in music is far from over, and Brave The Cold is the project to prove that.

Stylistically the material on "Scarcity" is a relatively varied form of deathgrind. There are blastbeat parts here, but just as many heavy parts. The hardcore punk influence is strong and although "Scarcity" does not sound like Napalm Death there are still quite a few similarities in the riff department, which is of course only natural as Harris has co-written loads of Napalm Death songs throughout the years.

Harris vocals are aggressive, snarling, and raw, but he also sings clean vocals on the album. He is not the most unique sounding clean vocalist out there, but the clean vocal parts work well and provide the album with a melancholic atmosphere, which compliments the raw aggression of the most brutal deathgrind parts. The musicianship is not surprisingly on a high level given the two musicians featured in the lineup. Verbeuren´s drumming is technical but never in a forced way and he always seem to know exactly what a song needs. When a break or a tempo change is needed, or when to add a little more organic playing. He is just one hell of a drummer, and proves it once again here.

As mentioned above the material on "Scarcity" is relatively varied for the genre, and the tracks on the 11 track, 38:03 minutes long album are all memorable and surprisingly catchy. It´s not often you´ll find a deathgrind album with material as memorable as the case is on "Scarcity" and when it features a unique sound too, it´s hard not to say more than a few praising words about the album. The album features a raw, brutal, and powerful sonding production too, and upon conclusion it´s a high quality release in all departments. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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BitterJalapeno wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Nice review. I listened after reading. Good stuff indeed. It will likely be added to my 2020 list.

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