Have you been feeling down recently? We’ve all been there, and for many of us, music is the best medicine. Well, get ready to feel even more emotional.
Despite being a metal band, San Francisco-based “doom-goth” outfit Brume have never been one to shy away from the gentler side of music when they feel like it. With their 3rd full-length release, Marten, they take their musical aesthetic to the next level, both by diving deeper into their softer, non-metal influences and also through adding Jackie Perez Gratz to the lineup, one of the most badass cellists in the metal world and beyond. For those who don’t know, Jackie and her cello have contributed to dozens of recordings over the past two and a half decades, including Neurosis’ Times of Grace, Today is the Day’s Sadness Will Prevail, Agalloch’s Marrow of the Spirit, and OM’s Advaitic Songs, to name a few. She’s also worked with Asunder, Tribes of Neurot, Cattle Decapitation, and is also a current member of Giant Squid, Grayceon, and Ice Plants. Quite the resume, and her joining forces with Brume is a big deal in my book.
Brume describe themselves as “doom-goth”, and in spite of my best efforts over the years, I still don’t totally understand what goth is at its core, at least musically. I know it’s related to post-punk, but that genre confuses me as well, so as far as I can tell, goth is melodrama + theatricalism, right? Regardless, after listening to Marten a few times, I’m no closer to knowing what goth truly is, but I can at least say that this melancholy record refuses to be pigeonholed. The murky doom provides a heavy metal backbone to this album, but for much of the time, you won’t be headbanging so much you will be feeling. Significant portions don’t adhere to any of the trademarks of metal, and sometimes can’t even be called rock. There’s a distinct indie/pop current to Marten that doesn’t compare to many other bands I’ve explored. I typically avoid from bands that blend metal with pop or other similar styles, mostly because the final concoctions tend to be downright awful, at least in my humble opinion. It’s like trying to get the same side of two magnets to touch each other. All rules have their exceptions, however, and with Marten, Brume have released a stunning example of how to mix heavy and soft, so much so that this has quickly become one of my favorite albums in 2024.
Marten takes its time, and every song on this album is drenched from head to toe in a gripping atmosphere, even when the compositions are sparse. The cello action paired with Susie McMullan’s ethereal yet resonant voice and the dreamy guitars placed a bit further back in the mix are the cornerstones of this unique ambiance. It’s full enough to touch while also feeling deeply personal, like you’re the only one in the room with the band. The way the cello sits also gives the music a chamber music quality that I absolutely die for. The album also marks the band’s first full-on dive into implementing post-rock into the basis of their songwriting. Consequently, there are slow build up to explosive releases of energy, but don’t confuse the lighter sections with interludes. Their purpose isn’t to contrast to the louder sections (although they do a bang-up job of that). Indeed, the gentler pieces stand on their own and are pound-for-pound as strong as any noisier part of the LP. That probably goes double for if you’re one to pay attention to lyrics. I’m admittedly not good at following lyrics, but from the bits my brain processed on Marten, they are quite well-crafted, and emotionally compelling.
When the songs do become loud, they erupt. Big, overdrive layers of down-tuned guitars fill any remaining space in the mix as you’re forced deeper into your seat by the sudden increase in gravity. I wouldn’t say that the riffs are the stars of the show, however, for all their potency and bulk. They’re placed well and add excitement, but they aren’t used here to change the core spirit of the compositions. Rather, they compliment the more spacey aspects of the arrangement, such as the hypnotic vocals, alluring cello play, and various arpeggios, chimes, drones, reverberations, and swells coming from effects-ridden cleaner guitar tones, and perhaps other instrumentation that my ears might be hearing. The light and the heavy play off each other tremendously well to create organically flowing songs that had me subconsciously excited for whatever was coming next, whether bone-crushingly dense or airy and delicate. This is also their least stoner metal-sounding record to date, though there is a slight dark psychedelic factor to the music that plays in well with the clean vocals (and occasionally throat-ripping screams). Think less psychedelic in a drug-induced manner and more so reminding me of when you’re drifting in and out of sleep, or right after waking up from a long nap in the middle of the afternoon.
It also may be my imagination, but I felt a noticeable American folk music vein running through many of the songs. There are some definite blues progressions on a number of the tracks, a few instances of what I can only describe as gospel-style chorus singing, some twangy guitar sounds, and melodies from Jackie’s cello that make me think of Americana. I’m far from an expert on any of those styles mentioned, but I was impressed with how well those influences were integrated into this record, sounding as natural as anything else.
I only have a couple of complaints with this record, and one doesn’t really count. My first and main point of contention is that even though I think every song here is great (if not downright perfect) and makes effective uses of dynamics, almost all the tracks begin the same way: subdued, calm, and relatively soft. Its not that these sections don’t work, far from it even, but this motif becomes predictable as you get deeper into the tracklist. Secondly, “Faux Savior”, while still worthy, takes a while to get to the point. However, it’s probably the only song on the album where I could actually feel the length of the track. Otherwise, the pacing and flow of the album are stellar. In its entirety, Marten is 48 minutes long, but it’s a deeply engaging 48 minutes, so you don’t really notice time passing much while you’re listening. In an age of shortening attention spans, this is an achievement to celebrate.
My last quibble is surrounding “Otto’s Song.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about this song on first listen, but after opening myself up more to this album, its actually become one of my favorite tracks, even though it’s one of the least metal endeavors on Marten. This bittersweet pseudo-interlude brings Brume’s love for indie, alt-rock, and pop to the forefront, and climaxes with a section that sounds like The Smashing Pumpkins in a completely unexpected way. Since the majority of the remainder of Marten has a mostly melancholy shadow cast over its essence, the uplifting nature of the music here provided a breath of fresh air before diving back into darkness. All that being said, a part of me feels that this could have worked better as a closing song. “The Yearn” suits the closing role perfectly, but something about “Otto’s Song” makes me feel like things are coming to an end, like when you’re watching a really good movie and the credits start to roll and you’re smiling, but also a little bit sad (bittersweet may be the word I’m looking for). If “The Yearn” wasn’t so damn good, this might be a larger issue, but it ultimately doesn’t matter in this case. “The Yearn” provides enough of a feeling of closure to cap off the album on a fitting note.
I’m not sure exactly what I would have thought about this album a few years ago, but there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have even gotten all the way through it, since I was still in an era of hunting out the nastiest, evilest sounding, crushing metal metal possible, and Marten doesn’t fit those categories. As I said before, large chunks of the record are anything but metal. If you can alter your expectations, however, you’ll find one of the most stunning releases of the first half of 2024. Hell, this might be my personal frontrunner as AOTY, even including music outside the Bay Area. There’s a lot of year left, so we’ll have to wait and see, but I doubt we’re going to see a metal-adjacent release that can generate as potent emotions as Brume does here. That might not be the only factor in what makes a piece of music great, but it is certainly an important one. Whether or not Brume continues with this musical direction in the future is unknown, but I’d be thrilled if they continue with this style; Marten is undoubtedly a home run.
RATING
9 / 10
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Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Recorded at: Tiny Telephone Studios
Release Date: May 3rd, 2024
Release Type: Full-length
Cover Art: General LLC