Leaving the Nest: How Brutus' New Album Has Taken the Trio to New Heights // Astral Noize

(full feature via Astral Noize)

“Maybe it has to do with the fact that Belgium is such a small country and nobody wants to copy each other’s sound,” guitarist Stijn Vanhoegaerden tells us when we ask him why Belgium is such a hotbed of creativity. “Everybody is really doing their own thing.”

Brutus are certainly doing their own thing. The trio’s merging of punk and post-rock spawns music that is powerful and yet emotive, capable of both cathartic aggression and subtle poignancy, often simultaneously. This musical freedom, Vanhoegaerden explains, comes from the way in which the band approach writing. “When we started the band we never discussed what style we wanted to play,” he says. “It just felt good to play together. It was really freeing to not think in genres. The melodies were more important. As long as the three of us liked what we were doing, we were happy. To this day when we write there’s still a feeling that anything goes as long as we feel the songs.”

Nest is out now on Sargent House. Purchase here.