Review Summary: The best, and unfortunately the last SNS album.
In this day and age, when you hear the words “Melodic Hardcore” you might quickly be turned away. But don’t be irked by this.
Saints Never Surrender provide a beautiful job well done with their third release titled
Brutus that strays away from trying to be as heavy as possible to easing towards trying to be a feast to the ears that in turns creates intense and incredibly passionate hardcore.
The opening track titled
Swan is a little bit misleading as its atmospheric guitar work quickly transitions into the first real song on the album titled
This Moment where what was built up in
Swan quickly crashes to the ground with an opening crowd chanted verse going “I will walk with pride!” shouted under driving guitars and the barks of the lead vocalist. This song builds a good impression of what to expect from this band. The guitars are beautifully melodic, the drums are intense and greatly done, but unfortunately the vocals, although good are at some points slightly inaudible. But being in possession of a lyrics sheet would be helpful to you.
Speaking of lyrics, the next song titled
Companion displays some of the best lyrical compositions in the album and definitely displays the positive and fun nature of this band. As you may have guessed, the song is about companionship and sticking it through as noted from some of the lines that go “We’ve battled immortal beings, we’ve made them beg for death,” it shows the heartfelt loyalty they have for the people around them and maturity as lyricists.
Another great song to be noted on this album would be the one titled
Lost To Time. This song like the others stick to the passionate melodies in each song but is also mixed instrumentally when it comes from being beautifully melodic into devastatingly intense. The transitions in this song are incredibly tasty as it goes from a melodic interlude into a shredding and powerful breakdown, and you can see that there was a great amount of work put into this song instead of the members messing around with open palm chugging and then going “*** yeah! Lets put this into song number 5!” adding a great composition to this album.
The time that Saints Never Surrender was active has come and gone, but in their time as a band they left behind a truly strong and memorable album filled with beautiful composition, powerful lyrical writing, and intense passion that seemed to be all but lost in the hardcore scene. With that said, I tip my hat to you, Saints Never Surrender for providing a great and memorable album.
Pros
Great guitarwork
Great song compositions
Amazing lyrics
Cons
Sometimes inaudible vocals
Best Songs
Lost To Time
Companion
This Moment
