Brume

Taking their cues from bands like Windhand and The Melvins, San Francisco's Brume deal in big riffs, atmospheric vocals and general oddness.

Donkey opens with the seven minutes opus Shadows, a song that is in no hurry to get where it's going, and as such the crushing riffs within act as a steady sledgehammer bludgeoning all, while bassist/vocalist Susie McMullan sings a haunting melody that floats somewhere in the distance as if she's merely a witness to said bludgeoning. Win offers more of the same, whereas Help Me adds a little more urgency by upping the pace ever so slightly, and McMullin sings a melody that sounds as if she's becoming a little more concerned about that bludgeoning that still seems to be going on.

The EP closes with Mother Earth which adds more layers to Brume's sound as more subtle flavours appear in the mix, a few more rhythmically interesting riffs here and a bit more load guitar there, and it's apparent that there's more to Brume than first meets the eye.

FINAL THOUGHTS
While they may not be wholly original and there are plenty of bands right now that do what they do, if Donkey is anything to go by, Brume are set to become of the best. - Pure Rawk

I don’t trust that donkey one bit. She’s got a donkey’s head (‘natch), human boobies, scale-y lizard skin, an exhausted dragon for a tail, a bearded Neptune-type dude for a backside, an elephant’s trunk for one arm, a swollen pot belly and a rather prominent vagina. Nah man, she’s shifty as fuck. And on a pink backdrop too? The cheeky little, errr, whatever she is…

Ordinarily, upon encountering such a creature in any other situation I’d be getting the hell away from that castle claimed in the name of “B” ASAP, but there’s some doom to be doomed along to first; Brume doom to be precise. Brume are a brand new entity, punched from the womb by former Gurt axe-master Jamie McCathie after a successful relocation from his native London to San Francisco, no less. Teaming up with the innocent-looking but banshee-lunged Susie McMullan (bass, vocals) and solid sticksman Jordan Perkins-Lewis, the trio plug in, tone low and set off on a voyage to the damned and the beyond on this, their debut five-track EP.

I don’t think it would be unfair to say that in the practise space (which I can only hope is referred to as the “Brume Cupboard”, hoho!) Windhand, Jex Thoth, Blood Ceremony, Electric Wizard and Sleep must be on a near constant rotation. The final three tracks on Donkey especially are very close in form, ethos and spirit to Windhand’s more modernised and organic take on the crushing Sabbathian template of the Lekkie Wizters themselves. Always a guitarist I enjoyed watching live back in his London days, Jamie abandons much of the bluesier roots that he moulded the early Gurt sound around in favour of a droning Dave Chandler-esque barrage of heaviness on the likes of Help Meand Mother Earth. Melded to Susie’s broodin n’ a-groovin’ basslines, the frontline-leading duo are a powerful force on record and each song comes across with all the velocity and intensity of an aircraft-carrier on war-mongering duty. In brief, Donkey’s five songs ain’t revolutionary stuff, but they sure as shit sound colossal when you crank them hard.

Shadows is a curious one to open up with in that it’s probably the least hooky cut of the lot. Seven righteous minutes of Jordan’s thunder-clapping, mid-paced drumming is overlapped with Susie’s hankering wails behind the mic whilst her bass strings and Jamie’s sizable riffs will cause your pint (or 50cl, your pond-side depending) to begin to rumble in your grubby mits. Eerily bookending the song with some subtle acoustics and ending with the sort of riff-out that Bongzilla or Serpent Venom wouldn’t turn their ears away from, it’s an alluring mermaid-on-the-rocks of a lead-off.

Win keeps the spirit low, but as Jamie and Susie begin to step through the gears, it’s clear there’s more than Sabbathy tunes to retrace in Brume’s closet (I’m sorry guys, it’s the bristled pun that keeps on giving). Susie’s vocals are more subtle than Windhand’s Parker Chandler, yet more sincere and delicately rich than, say Johanna Sardonis’ shrill authority and her ghostly overtures sit comfortably in the embrace of the fuzzy amplifier vibrations.

Even If Love and Mother Earth both see Brume step more into their own confident stride. Yes, there are still the riffs overflowing with bass and Jordan’s off-beat, heat-defeating drumming patterns but with Susie’s sultry hymns as the clotted cream topping this scone of pure finesse, it’s as if someone married Alunah, Tombstones and SubRosa in an orgy-fest of doom and sent them off on honeymoon in a rocket ship to the holy mountain with tins cans rattling in their denim-clad wake. In many senses, Mother Earth is a strange choice to end with as arguably the most upbeat number of the EP; it hints that Brume are only really just settling into their ideas as Jamie’s skilled solos cackle off into the ether.

Despite that cover art still giving me nightmares even in my daydreams, Brume’s debut EP Donkey is a solid outing with some exemplary drumming, bolshie, head-banging riffage and a layers of luscious, soulful vocals. I’d say at this stage that I’m keener to establish exactly where this band can take their grand and powerful, yet delicately precise sound but for now this is definitely one to pick up rather than sweep under the rug. ‘Cos, y’know, you sweep up with a Brume dontcha?!

Yeah? Yeah? Geddit? Brume, broom?! Boom, boom?!! Oh, just forget it. - The Sleeping Shaman

On their debut album, Donkey, San Francisco three-piece Brume summon a dense, often impenetrable fog of distortion and rhythmic battery—the only respite from the enveloping miasma being the occasional atmospheric break and the seraphic vocals of bassist Susie McMullen. With Brume it’s all about the riff and each track is a perpetual cascade of hazy and inescapable riffs.

Though the band is following a well-worn path their greatest attribute, other than the larger-than-life guitar tone, is centered on vocalist/bassist McMullen. While the vocals are slightly buried in the mix her voice remains a luminous beam of solace in an otherwise suffocatingly heavy storm and, at times, recall the vocals of shoegaze/noise act Medicine’s Beth Thompson, particularly on “Shadows” and “Win.”
“Help Me,” the album’s third track, is not only the catchiest track of the collection, but it also best showcases McMullen’s vocal talents. While her vocals often reach angelic heights, they also are delivered with an unparalleled force compared to anything else on the album.

Not content to merely craft their own material, Brume pursue an unlikely detour by taking the melancholia folk of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s “Even if Love” and taking it to its doomed-out conclusion. And it works. “Even if Love” lends itself well to Bume’s brand of downtrodden heaviness and is a welcome addition to the band’s own compositions and features some of the album’s strongest drumming.

Brume have made a powerful debut with Donkey and the trio should appeal to fans of other likeminded bands such as Windhand, Tombstones, and Chrch—acts who practice and have mastered the sludgey wall-of-sound aesthetics of narcotizing doom. Brume effectively and tastefully wield feedback in addition to well-placed wah pedal manipulation adding texture and depth to the tunes. Hopefully Donkey is just the beginning for this three-piece… - Vertical Chamber Apparatus

Last month, we introduced you to an impressive new band out of San Francisco: the heavy riffin’ fem-fronted doom metal outfit BRUME. After releasing a teaser track from their album ‘Donkey,’ the excellent 5-tracker was released this month via When Planets Collide.

This is a low 'n’ slow delight that fans of Witch Mountain, Alunah, and Blood Ceremony should will adore. I’ve been enjoying the hell out of it today. You can avail yourself of limited edition CD digipacks (with the first 50 copies coming with an exclusive patch) here.

The band held their record release party this past Saturday at Thee Parkside. - Doomed & Stoned

The down-cast and mossy settings of Brume's first full album are evident as soon as you look at the track titles, the five of which run in order as "Shadows", "Win", "Help Me", "Even If Love", and "Mother Earth"; once you hit play, that moodiness manifests itself with full strength as the bass rumbles and a clear but obscured voice rises from the morass of low-end sounds. Slow-moving but sharp-edged grooves put the muscle of the songs in action, sliding past so smoothly that before you know it, another 6 minutes or so has slipped by on well-oiled tunage. There's a similar sense of that monolithic-but-psychedelic style Windhand moved away from with their second album, though Brume give it their own personal touches, such as being more free-handed with the energy.
Given how slabby each of the songs is, it's hard to go into more detail without just picking away at the ways in which they channel the tones, or going on a point-by-point analysis of how they bend the mood each time. Suffice it to say, it's an album that comes in, does its thing extremely well, and leaves you with a sense of satisfaction and an urge to hear it again. While I'm personally really hoping that this makes it to vinyl at some point, you can pick up a copy on CD from what's left of When Planets Collide's 100-copy run, at least at the time of this review's writing. - The Burning Beard

Brume remind me very much of Church who I just reviewed last week. This is some wonderful downtuned doomy sludge with haunting female vocals from Susie (who also plays bass). This is my first time hearing this band thanks to When Planets Collide Presents sending it on to me. This is really everything I love, being equal parts doom and sludge. Susie’s vocals are nicely back in the mix to give that “from beyond the grave” haunting quality which fits this style of music so well. If you enjoyed YOB’s last album, Clearing The Path To Ascend, then you’ll definitely love what Brume have to offer other than the not as epic song lengths with Brume being of the much more paletable 5-7 minute fare more associated with sludge than doom. I do have to say Brume jams it low and slow making even a five minute song seem much much longer. You should do yourself a favor and pick this one up when it comes out on May 4th which is only about a week away (and The Scribblers 1 year anniversary btw!). You can pre-order it HERE. - They Demons Be Scribblin

I’m not sure when else one might expect San Francisco’s Brume to release their Billy Anderson-produced debut album, Rooster, other than April 20, but the timing works on multiple levels as that’s just a scant two days before they head overseas for the first time. They’re set to tour the UK with sludgemongers Gurt as a precursor to appearing at Desertfest London 2017 at The Underworld in Camden Town, where they’ll share the stage with Celeste, Scissorfight, Inter Arma and Bongzilla.

A worthy occasion to say the least, and certainly as they go, waving a banner like the frickin’ awesome Sean Beaudry cover art for Rooster won’t hurt. In addition to the April 20 release, which will be CD, tape and download through Doom Stew Records, the plan is to have Rooster out on vinyl through DHU Records over the summer.

Stay tuned because I’ll have more on this one leading up to the release — think, the week before. For now, the PR wire has tour dates, album info and all that good stuff:

brume rooster

San Francisco, California Doom trio Brume announce their debut album ‘Rooster’ out on DHU Records/Doom Stew Records.

Brume’s heaving dose of hallucinogenic heaviness has been crafted since their EP ‘Donkey’ released on CD (When Planets Collide), LP (DHU Records) and Cassette (Transylvanian tapes) in 2015. Returning to Sharkbite studios in Oakland, CA to record their full length but this time working alongside legendary producer Billy Anderson to lay down six songs, 51 minutes of heavy.

Progressing from Donkey’s monolithic focus, Rooster sees Brume evolve to a more dynamic songwriting approach. The west coast debut is a more sonically diverse, crushingly heavy and beautifully conflicted album. To accompany the music, the cover art was created by Savannah illustrator Sean Beaudry, best known for his work with Kylesa.

Brume will bring its riff ritual to Europe for the first time in April with a joint UK tour with Gurt in the run up to there Desertfest London slot alongside the likes of Bongzilla and Inter Arma in The Underworld, Saturday 29th.

Rooster will be available on CD, cassette and digitally on April 20th from Brume drummer Jordan Perkins-Lewis’s fledgling label, Doom Stew Records. The 2xLP will be available in a variety of limited edition variants via DHU in July.

Watch these spaces for preorders:
https://www.brumeband.com/
https://www.doomstew.com/
http://darkhedonisticunionrecords.bigcartel.com/

Artist: Brume
Album: Rooster
Label: DHU Records/Doom Stew Records
Release date: April 20th (CD) July (LP) 2017

Tracklist:
1. Grit and Pearls
2. Harold
3. Reckon
4. Call the Serpent’s Bluff
5. Welter
6. Tradewind

Brume & Gurt UK tour dates:
22/04 The Firehouse Southampton UK
23/04 The Stag and Hounds Bristol UK
24/04 Finns Weymouth UK
25/04 Rebellion Manchester UK
26/04 The Phoenix Coventry UK
29/04 Desertfest London 2017 The Underworld London UK (Brume only)

Brume are:
Susie McMullin – Vocals/Bass
Jordan Perkins-Lewis – Drums
Jamie McCathie – Guitar

https://www.brumeband.com/
https://brumesf.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/brumeband/
http://brume.bigcartel.com/
https://www.doomstew.com/
http://darkhedonisticunionrecords.bigcartel.com/ - The Obelisk

I should say up front, I have a serious soft spot for heavy music with powerful female vocals. Bands like Holy Grove, Blues Pills, Disenchanter, Blood Ceremony, Windhand and a host of other killer bands I’ve discovered in the last couple of years in the now thriving underground heavy rock and metal scene. I think it’s a harkening back to my youth and the dynamic female artists that were so powerful in either raw vocal talent, range, songwriting ability, or a combination of all those factors, that they simply couldn’t be dismissed by the rock industry of the 70’s and 80’s (no matter how hard the industry tried) such as Ann Wilson from Heart, Pat Benatar, the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, Joan Jett, and Blondie’s Debbie Harry to name a few. There’s just something compelling about a female voice standing in front of the chainsaw snarl of electric guitars, thumping bass guitar and the machine gun attack of drums properly beaten into submission in the still mostly male-dominated world of heavy rock and metal. This has been done to devastating effect in the latter 2000’s beginning with the more symphonic metal stylings of bands like Within Temptation and Delain, but until recent years, very few of the new crop of more basic bluesy influenced rock and metal bands featured female lead vocals. The onset of the more riff-based styles of the “Doom Metal” subgenre especially, with its’ fuzz-drenched down-tuned tones, slow driving tempos, and ultra-heavy rhythm sections, has created a fascinating backdrop for the more melodic dulcet tones produced by the female vocal cords. This is not to say that they cannot be just as powerful and hard-edged as their male counterparts by any means, in fact, in many cases they are equally, if not more powerful.

Flash back to 2015, a random solo excursion to The Caravan Lounge, San Jose’s best (in my opinion) place to go for a cheap beer, and good old-fashioned ear pummeling barrage of riffology. Built like a cement bomb shelter with no windows, seemingly no air conditioning (even the ceiling fans are missing blades!), no stage riser or stage lights, and only the faintest semblance of a proper P.A., but brimming with vibe and sheer concrete volume, The Caravan plays host to all manner of heaviness several times a week, from punk to stoner and doom, and to even more extreme forms of metal. Anywhere between 20 and 70-odd people (not 70 “odd people” haha!...that actually might be debatable…) can be found gripping beers and bobbing or banging their heads in sweaty unison to the thundering of the kick drum. I chanced to go on a whim to a show I knew none of my compadres was going to, with a handful of bands I knew nothing about, just a desire to hear some riffs get dealt out and get my riff-fix on. A couple of bands had gone through their paces and put on entertaining sets when the next band, a trio, launched into their set and WHAM!!! I was hit between the ears with a wall of the thickest doomy sound heard in a long time. The guitarist was dealing out riffs on his Les Paul that would’ve made Iommi and Pike proud in equal measure, the bass player plucking a fuzzy haze of notes from the netherworld on her white Fender P-Bass, and the drummer pounding out the time like a sledgehammer alarm clock going off. Then something unexpected happened, the bassist opened her mouth and a haunting, almost angelic voice began weaving melodies around the slab of sound coming from the amplifiers in a combination of sonic dissonance that I recently described thusly;

”Brume's music evokes a clashing of two titans like Godzilla versus King Kong with Susie's (bass guitarist & vocalist Susie McMullan) vocals playing the part of Fay Wray pleading with the monsters to stop fighting. Stunning beauty and Earth shattering heaviness in one colossal sonic explosion.”

I was instantly captivated by the seamless marriage of two seemingly dissimilar sounds, a contrast of light and dark that resonated in my guts…literally, it was so loud in the Caravan that the bass and kick drum were rattling my insides, not at all an uncommon occurrence at that locale. Unfortunately, the ramshackle P.A. was struggling to keep up (also a common occurrence) and it was hard to hear the aforementioned angelic tones. (At a more recent gig in another San Jose venue with an even more ridiculous P.A. system I shouted at my friend Jeff, whose band was also on the bill that night, filling in for the non-existent sound guy at said club “crank Susie’s mic!!!”) Hard to hear or not, I was duly impressed and convinced “they’ve got something special here.” Shortly after that initial introduction to their music I purchased their debut EP “Donkey” and was blown away by the music, but much as I liked it, I found the vocals somewhat buried in the mix under all the awesome instrumentation. When I learned they were in the studio working on their first full-length I was excited but also keeping my fingers crossed that the vocals would be up front in the mix. After receiving the digital promo for “Rooster” two days ago, I’ve listened to it at least seven times and literally cannot stop listening to it.

First and foremost, Susie’s vocals are right up front in the mix and vary from soft and melodic, to desperate and pleading, to downright powerful and gripping. Box checked! Album starter “Grit and Pearls” begins with a fuzzed out slow bass line before Jamie McCathie’s snarling guitar doubles the bass along with Jordan Perkins-Lewis’ steady pounding rhythm, then unexpectedly, the song boils down to a quiet guitar strumming in double time, building back up with a fervent tempo as Perkins-Lewis displays his prowess with one fantastic drum fill after another behind McMullan’s nimbly walked bass lines as McCathie’s guitar growls out the power chords. (After hearing this breakdown the first time I stopped the music and sat for a moment in stunned amazement and I believe the word I uttered was “wow!”) “Harold” begins with an acoustic guitar intro that is folky yet also brooding, foreshadowing the doom to come before erupting into a slow electric dirge with McMullin’s warning vocals forlorn and desperately pleading as if from beyond the grave. “Reckon” begins with perhaps my favorite vocal performance of the album, a soulful sorrowful lament:

“He walks in slow
With his ox blood boots
He’s got a beard that’ll tell ya the truth

He rides real fast
On his busted up bike
He’s got hell burning in his eyes”

“Call the Serpent’s Bluff” is a mid-tempo (well, as close to mid-tempo as Doom gets) stomper that sees McMullin belt out her most powerful vocal performance yet in the verses, then melts into the ether with wispy wailing in the pre-chorus and choruses. “Welter” is a simply divine folky piece with acoustic guitar and the faint echo of piano with an altogether different vocal delivery, ethereal, soulful and hauntingly beautiful. “Trade Winds” closes the album in bombastic waves of slow doom as the maelstrom envelops everything in its’ mighty wake. Building and building between quieter breaks in the storm and sheets of “hail and rain” pounding down from the sky in an epic nearly twelve-minute conclusion.

“Rooster” is literally a giant leap forward from “Donkey” in composition, performance, and production, and that’s saying a lot in comparison to such a fantastic debut EP. The mix is well-balanced between the instruments and the production leaves room for the music to breathe, even in its’ heaviest moments.

“Rooster” has come pleading with the listener to pay heed. Those who fall under its’ shadow will be ensnared like the sailors of old following the siren’s call to their doom upon the rocks. Speaking from personal experience, these rocks are actually quite comfortable.

-Riffcaster - The Ripple Effect

A dense fog comes to rest over the 51 minutes of Brume‘s Rooster. By the end of the 10-minute opening track, it has settled in despite — or perhaps because of — the pervasive thrust the San Francisco trio have conjured, and it remains a factor for the six-track duration. Fortunately, the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Susie McMullin, guitarist Jamie McCathie and drummer Jordan Perkins-Lewis chose the most capable of navigators, Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Melvins, Acid King, Sleep, need I go on?), to help guide them forward. Rooster, issued through Perkins-Lewis‘ own Doom Stew Records on CD, tape and download with vinyl forthcoming from DHU Records, winds up not so much getting lost in this fog as inhaling it, plugging in, and riffing out with marked force, thickness and presence.

Their 2015 debut EP, Donkey, was a showcase of promise, and Rooster is a longer one, but in stepping forward to give their building audience a first real chance to take in the scope of what Brume — who got together in 2014 — can and will be as a band, they do not flub the opportunity. With longer pieces “Grit and Pearls” (10:06) and “Tradewind” (11:48) as bookends at the outset and finish, the fervent plod of “Harold” (7:30), “Reckon” (9:13) and the rolling “Call the Serpent’s Bluff” (9:29) between, as well as the penultimate acoustic-based “Welter” (2:55) leading into the closer, Rooster realizes the potential of the prior EP and moves forward with it, successfully melding together influences into what Perkins-Lewis might call a “doom stew” of their own recipe.

For those new to the band, with the airy, soulful melodicism of McMullin‘s voice echoing spaciously over the molasses riffery, one might hear them at first as spiritual successors to the recently-defunct Uzala, but the turns of “Grit and Pearls” immediately widen this impression with rhythmic stops drawn from the post-YOB sphere of cosmic doom and Mike Scheidt‘s particular style of angularity. The key, though, is immersion. By the time “Grit and Pearls” has finished its 10-minute course, shifting from vast plod into quiet atmospherics and back through the faster ending that’s the source of the YOB comparison above, they’ve managed to hook the listener with a repetitive nodding groove. Their sense of pacing and willingness to vary tempos emerges as something of a theme throughout, but Rooster never becomes more monotonous than it wants to be. Monolithic, perhaps.

brume

“Harold” begins by teasing the lighter strum-and-pluck that “Welter” will later bring before crashing in at full weight and unfolding its first ethereal verse, slower and more doomed than “Grit and Pearls” before it — I keep hearing early Cathedral in McCathie‘s guitar progression, but I can’t place it exactly — and they settle into a consuming roll as they move past the halfway point, the last minute of the song being the real point of departure as the central rhythm gives way to feedback and ambient noise with Perkins-Lewis‘ drums behind, a grueling end that perfectly sets up the doom-gone-Twin–Peaks-barroom-blues launch of “Reckon.” The third of Rooster‘s six cuts fascinates conceptually as McMullin plays off the country music trope of the cowgirl singing the tale of meeting a mysterious stranger, but instead of a sharp-eyed, all-chin guy on horseback, he’s got a beard and rides a beat-up motorcycle. Nonetheless, the vibe that results makes “Reckon” a standout, as does its more prevalent hook and open-feeling, drum-and-chanting midsection break that swells to an apex with a layered-over guitar lead that recalls “Grit and Pearls” in its intent without necessarily retreading what’s already been done.

It seems likely that “Call the Serpent’s Bluff” will mark the start of the vinyl’s side B after “Reckon” finishes the album’s longer-by-two-minutes side A, and that break between the two songs feels somewhat essential as a factor in the flow throughout Rooster as a whole. That is, the effect of Perkins-Lewis‘ drums returning to start “Call the Serpent’s Bluff” is best experienced with the breath-catching moment provided to the listener by flipping a record. Even the digital version of “Reckon” has a couple seconds of silence at the end, and that feels very much on purpose and very correct. When it gets going, with the rumble of McMullin‘s bass and feedback from McCathie‘s guitar soon enough joining the tom runs to draw the listener into the patient groove, “Call the Serpent’s Bluff” swirls out hypnotic, doomedelic nod, an early lead giving way to more insistent pulse before spacious vocal melody transitions into slower riffing, a quiet introduction of the back-half hook and build back to the crawling, crashing finish recitations, ending with the vocals as a standalone element. That subtle moment of minimalism makes an effective transition into “Welter”; the shortest cut and starkest contrast to its surroundings, sonically if not in overall mood.

Backed by acoustic strum, McMullin echoes the bluesier feel of “Reckon” in another context, surrounded by a flourish of keys for a neofolkish stretch one might relate to Windhand but that serves all the same to further widen the breadth of Rooster ahead of “Tradewind,” which comes to life slowly over likewise quiet strum and cymbal wash before the full heft arrives at around two and a half minutes in to commence a series of loud/quiet tradeoffs that once again find Brume working in a varied structural context even as they reinforce the brooding feel of the record as a whole and offer one last deceptively catchy chorus. The nature of their craft, with a focus on longer songs meting out grueling and at times otherworldly doom, doesn’t necessarily lend itself toward the expectation of hooks, but Brume have a few throughout Rooster, as “Tradewind” duly reminds, and that seems an avenue where the trio might continue to grow as they take the lessons of their debut forward into whatever might come next. Along with the cohesive ambience and fluidity of their presentation on the whole, this underlying foundation of songwriting gives them another tradition to make their own as they begin to do in these tracks. - The Obelisk

Brume are a doom band from the US and this is their debut album.

Worshipping the purity of The Riff, yet with enough psychedelic depth to fashion a very well-rounded and nuanced release, Rooster is a top quality listen from start to finish.

Love the cover too. Nice.

Oh, I like this, I like this a lot. Rooster is both atmospheric and heavy. Brume manage to take their doom metal core and lavish luscious melodies and mood-building atmosphere onto it as if they’ve been doing it all of their lives. They then add to all of this with their own distinct personality, crafting material that has both style and depth.

Heavy riffs that by themselves would be enough to engage with the listener are enhanced and enriched by leads that seem to tug at the heartstrings more than doom metal probably should. As you can probably tell, Brume deal with emotion well, channelling and working with it in highly effective ways across the album’s length.

This is true of the vocals as well as the music. As soon as you hear the singer’s voice for the first time, you’re captivated. She has a strong voice that’s equally at home working at full power as it is delivering softer croons and sensual melodies.

The songs are laid-back, heavy, and full of emotive feeling. Whether they’re creating thick atmospheres or peeling off heavy riffs, (or both), the band’s sense of compositional judgement seems to always strike the right note.

Rooster contains over 50 minutes of transcendental atmospheric doom metal. Notable for having abundant memorable riffs and a hefty bite to its guitars, while still being able to have deeper feeling and nuance; the band essentially have their cake and eat it, bringing the best of both worlds together in a glorious merging of doom’s strongest traits.

Bloody Hell! Brume may have just released the best doom metal album of the year. - Wonderbox Metal

Rooster is an album by American stoner rock group Brume, from San Francisco, California, released on April 20. Fifty one minutes long, the record has six tracks: Grit and Pearls, Harold, Reckon, Call the Serpent's Bluff, Welter and Tradewind. With the traditional approach to the genre, densely eroded by pervasively abrasive guitars that drive exceedingly slow rhythms to the normal persuasive axis of its expansive sonorous universe, Rooster is a reasonable album, with interesting melodies and intricate harmonies. Nonetheless, as usual for the genre, the draconian stylish virtues of the work are too excessively dragged all the way through, which makes the album overtly monotonous, after a while. Which, of course, is more of a characteristic of the genre itself, than a fault of the band, that only follows the traditional style of their genre of choice.

Unfortunately, there is little Rooster can offer to more experienced enthusiasts of the genre, although the album has expressive merits. With poetic passages, some sober and marvelously exceptional guitar lines, and, above all the other elements, fascinating and perfectly aligned female vocals – certainly the most efficient and wonderfully creative flavor of Brume’s music – Rooster can be majorly described by its efficient set of qualities, despite the fact that Brume narrowly escapes the traditional ordinary features of the genre.

I think enthusiasts of stoner rock will definitely be overjoyed by this album. In a more technical evaluation, Brume can be ostensibly described as a promising band, although they have potential to be more creative in some aspects. But the treatment displayed by them at the sonorous configuration of their own style shows, indeed, a very energized and confident band, with real musical proficiency, a major technical domain, and a formidable sense of intuitive creativity. They do manage to stay above the average score, as they have a superior sense of formal solicitude, concerning their competent, veracious and vehement artistic skills.

Although I can’t qualify Rooster as a masterpiece, in its own terms this work can be classified as a major album – especially in the vein of its technical abilities –, and I can’t deny the fact that this record shows a formidable degree of originality, and its own frame of artistic achievements. Evidently, Rooster is a very good stoner rock album, and certainly, has an enormous potential to find a respectable audience within the underground music scene.


Wagner - Merchants of Air

Brume introduced themselves to the doom metal realm through their 2015 EP, Donkey. In their 30 minute long work, the band from California displayed some very promising signs. Sure, the structures of their tracks were slightly repetitive and the balance could be better, but Donkey saw the band in an embryonic stage, still working their sound and trying to reach its core.

Here to help them break through this cocoon is veteran producer Billy Anderson, through whose presence the band has gained more confidence and certainty. It’s not that their grasp on the doom metal sound has significantly changed, but they have reached a stage of maturity. Plainly put, they are stepping up their game, not only with Anderson behind the production helm, but also with their presentation, acquiring the services of Sean Beaundry (known from his work with Kylesa,) to create the amazing artwork for Rooster.

The monolithic sound of Brume has not gone through a radical transformation, but the band appears more sure about their compositions, something that is noticeable with the duration of the tracks expanding further than on Donkey. It does not simply mean that Brume are dragging out the tracks, but that they take a more exploratory outlook on the songwriting front. More sonically diverse this time around, the repetitive angle of the EP has been tamed, with the addition of more breaks to build a coherent narrative, as in “Grit and Pearls.” These clean breaks, the acoustic passages, or interludes in “Welter,” showcase this new found ability of setting up the tracks, of organically moving from one moment to the next, rather than blindly rushing into them.


While everything is still built around the doom mentality and groove, the performance is more convincing, coming with a power and urgency that produces some epic tracks, like the fantastic “The Serpent’s Bluff.” But even the subtler moments are presented under a different light, may them be acoustic moments or trippy leanings. Because while Brume did not, and does not here either, dwell much in the psychedelic realm, there are moments when a primal source of psychedelia comes through – either achieved through the use of feedback, providing a drone rock scenery or just by slowing down the progression and reaching a certain minimal pace, it brings an additional dimension to the work.

The incorporation of Susie McMullin’s vocals over the heavy riffs builds a nice contrast, and it is the versatility of her vocals that adds that finishing touch to Rooster. Cutting brilliantly through the heavy cloud of feedback, sounding epic as if singing from a mountaintop, getting mystical and almost prayer-like, as in “Harold,” or taking a more traditional route with “Reckon,” it always comes in with the appropriate form to accommodate the track at hand. No matter the case, the voice further highlights the strengths of Brume. Considering the progress that the band has made, the confidence they have acquired and their choices, Rooster is an excellent specimen of what they can accomplish. - CVLT NATION

Brume are a Psychedelic Doom band from San Fransisco who’ve been embarking upon bringing their bleak message to anyone dark enough to endear listening. Their first album Donkey laid the blueprint design of the monster they were crafting. While Rooster lets the monster smash anything in its path.

Rooster starts with “Grit and Pearls”. Like dense storm clouds rolling onto an unexpected city it consumes everything Susie’s vocals and bass are drenched with pain. The glacial pace of Jamie’s guitar constantly collapsing. The festering drums of Jordan are almost attempting to keep everything contained until the halfway point comes and what sounds like a war between riffs and percussion takes place. Susie’s singing loses any sense of sadness halfway through as it takes on almost complete hatred. The tempo excels and the storm vanquishes anything in its path. Our adventure has begun. “Harold” sees Brume permeating doom like a witch’s cauldron. As it overflows leaving wilted leaves, curled flower pedals, the color dissipating from anything natural. The guitars and vocals are slower and more rounded leaving the drums as a rare focal point you rarely see in any song. It, also, must be noted the lyrics have been taken directly from a poem written by Victoria June Baigrie. Susie’s beautiful singing comes to full spotlight on “Reckon”. But while her singing may take center stage here the guitar and drums are fully engaged constantly colliding off one another until a jarring guitar effect creates a mesmerizing experience the morphs again and again. “Call the Serpent’s Bluff” builds from the previously mentioned transformation creating this bulging beast of a track soaking in reverb. The mental state I have for this track is euphoric until a drastic shift in everything has a somber guitar against Susie’s vocals which is delivered with so much sincerity that you’re waiting for a sharp shift back into the ferocious style from early. And that happens, but not in an obvious way. It’s fragile. Beautiful even. Taking an almost folk inspires change is “Welter”. It’s sprinkled with piano work by Billy Anderson. Spiteful lyrics that are delivered with such refreshing crispness. The entire piece is so calming it almost feels like your brain’s previously acquire inflammation is draining out your ears. Album closer “Tradewind” creates a similar feeling what what “Grit And Pearls” had earlier. But it’s so much more controlled. Like Brume has entered the town mentioned earlier. Infiltrated it. And is moving on to infiltrate more.

This is the sound of a band coming together. Building off what they did on previously, but, honing each sound to utter perfection. All members have started a fight with their respected instruments and won. I’m so excited to see where they go from here.

Richard Murray - Pow Magazine

Music is a dynamic force and we, as the ultimate architects of musical expression, have very little control over how it affects us. The most fascinating phenomenon, then, is to witness the progressive evolution of a group of individuals contributing to the greater musical conversation of our time. Take BRUME, for instance, a Bay Area three-piece who just released their sophomore effort, ‘Rooster’ (2017). It’s an impressive slab of gritty, colorful doom, and it delivers on every paradigm of what we call doom metal.


Rooster’s primary achievement is that it sounds much bigger than anything the band has done before. It’s bold, heavy, and beautiful, and the songwriting is tighter and stronger than anything from their 2015 debut, Donkey. By focusing more on interesting guitar work and sounder song structures, the trio has avoided sounding like another Windhand doom-pop clone, which isn’t so easy to do if your band features a female vocalist. From their latest work, Brume draw comparisons to the likes of Messa or to some degree Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard.


Indeed, not experimenting enough was the major drawback of Donkey, which relied on singer and bassist Susie McMullen’s soaring falsetto to carry the band through five rather similar tracks. Rooster is superior in that it works more with the band’s collective talents to create staggering moments that incorporate dynamics and powerful guitar progressions. Songs like opener “Grit and Pearls,” for instance, progress by sculpting dynamics that carry the listener from stentorian peaks to quiet, calm depths. These transitions establish intimate moments with the listener, imparting Rooster with a richness that sustains the whole record.


Perhaps “Reckon” captures Rooster’s variety the best: Jamie McCathie’s guitar–clean and coated with some effects–sounds out a bluesy passage that supports McMullen’s swaggering vocal lead. It’s a calm introduction that proceeds to obliterate the listener as Jordan Perkins-Lewis joins McCathie with his drums to create a wall of sound. Towards the halfway point of the song, McMullen belts out a tribal-esque chant that soars majestically atop McCathie’s High on Fire-inspired riffing and Perkins-Lewis’ sustaining ride cymbal.

To bring some balance to Rooster, Brume included a softer song called “Welter,” an acoustic track that combines piano from Billy Anderson himself to accompany McMullen’s stunning vocals. “The villain plays the victim,” sings McMullen. “Do you use pity as your weapon?” The melody and lyrics come from a place of hurt; the pain and upheaval radiate from McMullen’s crooning voice as soft piano chords shimmer in the offing. It’s a moment of vulnerability and nakedness, but it cuts deep.


The album ends on “Tradewind,” a slow paced dirge that shifts from somber plodding to a cathartic release towards the final minutes of the song. “Open wounds, healing truth, healing you. Open wounds, open, open you, healing truth,” McMullen sings. The cleansing nature of the lyrics in conjunction with the guitar’s unbridled drone creates yet another moment of unashamed tenderness that shows us a side of doom metal we’re only accustomed to getting in small doses from bands like Pallbearer, Warning, or even Type O Negative (“Love You to Death” is one of the sappiest songs in metal, but we love it all the same). More of this, please.

The daringness to pioneer new sonic territory is what makes Rooster such a success. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s not terribly derivative, either. For their second LP, the future is looking bright for Brume.


A Lively Conversation With Brume

By Zachary Painter

Photos by Kristen Wrzesniewski


Brume recently finished up a few UK tour dates with Gurt. You also got to play Desertfest at The Underworld alongside Bongzilla and Inter Arma, among others. How was that whole experience? I read that Body Count was forever “your” band.

Susie McMullan (vocals, bass): Ugh, that was so incredibly fun. Travelling with rad dudes who have fantastic music you get to hear every night will elevate you and make you want to do better. Gurt is a killer band and a fun bunch of dudes to party with every night. I have been singing “Salt In My Vagina/Jon GarSeeYa Later" and “Battlepants” walking around in the city with a huge smile on my face since I’ve gotten back. Desertfest London was a treat, as well. We were well taken care of, packed the venue, and pretty much had the best show to date. The sound was epic and the event was really well run. I was meaning to reach out to the sound folks at the Underworld to let them know how excellent it was. Can’t ask for anything better than that?



Most people don’t remember their dreams.
Mine are clear, awful, and haunting…



Jordan Perkins-Lewis (drums): Desertfest was incredible. Easily one of my favorite festivals in the world. Gurt warms the cockles of my heart. We stayed with a lot of mums on this trip. Mums go hard on tour.

Jamie McCathie (guitar): The tour was epic. For me, I got to hang with my Gurt family and introduce Brume to not only some of the best peeps on the planet, but a seriously incredible band. Gurt slayed every night. And to end the tour at Desertfest was an amazing experience. The Underworld was rammed. It’s my favorite venue in London and I never got to play there in the 7 ½ years I lived in London. It was an experience. Body Count “Get Shot” turned 'to the tour anthem after Bill and Spice banged on about how amazing the new album was – it’s epic. It was our stage entrance tune at Desertfest. It made us feel pumped.






Which bands were you looking forward to seeing most?

Susie: Inter Arma and Elephant Tree, two current inspirations. I’m pretty pumped to say we are playing with Inter Arma again on August 17th at Thee Parkside. That makes two times in one year. #madeit

Jordan: Vodun and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs were high on my list.

Jamie: I was so excited to see Inter Arma, and they blew my ass off. I was also excited to see bands I hadn’t from the U.K. like Elephant tree, Vodun, Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters and Mammoth Weed wizard Bastard. Elephant tree were one of the bands Susie and I religiously listened to when we were starting Brume. They are a huge influence on us and to do something in the future with those guys would be rad. Pete and I go a lil’ way back from my Gurt days.



We spend most of our time hiding in a cave making music.



You guys worked with Gareth Kelly and his record label and PR entity When Planets Collide to set up this tour. Seeing that Brume has close ties with Gurt and the UK scene, do you have future plans to collaborate with Gurt or other bands overseas?

Susie: I have dreams of spending time, collaborating, and having future plans with a few overseas bands such as Elephant Tree, Pist, Sedulus, and Mage. You can’t fight gravity.

Jordan: We’re bringing Gurt over next year. That’s all I’ll say for now.

Jamie: The tour was special for me because I played a set with Gurt every night, the songs I could still remember. They came on stage and played “Tradewind” with us a few nights. Doing more with Gurt would be amazing. There was a lot of talk about getting Gurt over to the West Coast. We’ll see.

Any upcoming tours for Brume stateside?

Jordan: We’ll get down to Los Angeles at some point this year and hopefully back up to the Pacific Northwest. There are also rumors of the East Coast and Deep South.

Jamie: A couple of awesome shows coming up in the Bay Area – San Jose and San Francisco with Castle and Year Of The Cobra, plus a few yet to be announced that we are crazy excited about.


Since Donkey came out, it seems a lot has happened logistically for the band. I remember discovering Donkey on Transylvanian Tapes out of Oakland. Do you still work with them? How did you transition to DHU Records?

Susie: Yeah, Transylvanian Tapes is led by this wonderful man that helps small bands like us out, but he only does tapes. DHU only does vinyl. He is also a lovely man who does a lot for us. We are grateful for Transylvanian Tapes and DHU because they not only propped us up when we were invisible to most people, they introduced us to a lot of other underground bands that now inspire us and help us progress. Very similar to you guys. If it wasn’t for Doomed & Stoned, Planets Collide, Ripple Music, Transylvanian Tapes, DHU, and these wonderful blog posts and reviews, we’d not be given the chances that we have had so far. We are incredibly grateful for it. We spend most of our time hiding in a cave making music. Y'all make us relevant and visible.

Jordan: The community surrounding bands like us, and music like ours, is absolutely the best part of doing all this. We’ve met some wonderful people who have really gone out their way to push us and encourage us to keep going. Transylvanian Tapes and DHU are a huge part of that. The support we’ve been fortunate enough to receive has been overwhelming.

Jamie: James Rauh from Transylvanian Tapes is a legend. He totally hooked us up and continues to do so much to promote Brume and a ton of the other amazing underground Bay Area bands. DHU reached out to us after Donkey came out and has been a huge partner in getting our music to wax. He puts out incredible bands and tirelessly connects with people to spread the word. When Jordan said he wanted to make a label to put out Rooster we were so pumped for him, but decided to have DHU still help with vinyl. I’m glad we did, the color looks way killer and I know people are gonna lose their shit.


What are some Bay Area bands you’re psyched on? I really enjoy Swamp Witch, Body Void, Noothgrush, Brainoil, etc. Any up-and-coming bands in that area you’re digging?

Susie: Yes, Body Void is the total package. I’m a huge gigantic fan of War Cloud and Love Moon, too. I’m wearing a War Cloud shirt right now.

Jordan: So many Bay Area bands to love! KOOK, Tvsk, Name – it goes on and on.

Jamie: Body Void is fucking incredible. Wilt’s voice is something else, and they keep getting better with every release. KOOK from San Jose are killer, too; not only sweet guys, but man they slay live. Serpents of Dawn, Tvsk, Lowcaster, War Cloud – it’s pretty vibrant around here and getting better.


So this new album, for me, has three focal points I want to talk about: the album art, the lyrics, and, of course, the music. For the album art, you guys chose Sean Beaundry to draw up this fantastic album art. How did you find Beaundry and what made you choose him?

Susie: Jamie found him. I was slow to the party, but fell just as hard in love.

Jordan: We knew what we wanted art-wise. We didn’t know Sean would take it leaps and bounds beyond what we had imagined.

Jamie: The album name was already decided, and Shaun’s birds and crows I’d seen were amazing – plus everything he’d done for Kylesa has this modern quality that I really wanted for our artwork. I reached out to him and was lucky enough that he was pumped about the project and creating a cockatrice. He was a dream to work with and has provided us such a killer album cover. We love it.

I really like Brume’s approach with album artwork and album names. 2015 released Donkey and it aptly featured a humanoid creature with a donkey’s head on the cover. Rooster features a wrathful rooster-snake throttling a sparrow. So what’s the link between your album art and names?

Jordan: Donkey was a temporary band name when we first got started. It eventually became the name of our first EP and Jamie discovered the artwork. I think we all fell in love with the chimera idea, so once we settled on Rooster we already knew it had to be some sort of animal hybrid.

Jamie: Animal hybrids may be a theme. Or farmyard animals? Who knows.





Some of the lyrics on this album were extractions from Victoria June Baigrie. I’ve looked her up and she’s an obscure poet. Tell us more about her work, why you chose to use her poetry, and in what ways it influenced the songwriting for the record.

Jamie: Vicci is my talented wife. The whole album was written by Susie, except “Harold” which is an extraction from a poem that she had created about an injured goldfinch she found and fostered when we lived in London. She found it lying in the street on a bustling Portobello road and swept it up, nurtured it back to health, and then took it to a wildlife reserve a week or so later. The whole experience was both rewarding and traumatic for her, so when Susie asked her to write a poem about it, she jumped at the opportunity. She’s keen to write more, maybe even some short stories for books are in the future. The acoustic intro I came up with at the same time this all happened, probably six years ago, so I’m glad I could make this song come to life. Harold is the bird you see on the cover, he looks in trouble but when you see the center gatefold on the vinyl artwork you’ll notice he’s just fine.


“Call the Serpent’s Bluff” is one of the more interesting songs for me lyrically, specifically the first two stanzas.



The other night I dreamt of the devil
In a painting white teal and purple
His glowing head and arms were a’ flailing
But the frame was somehow firmly planted

He didn’t talk but yeah he scared me
I left the room but he still got to me
He’s in my head



What went into selecting these lyrics?

Susie: That was a poem I wrote one morning after a pretty bad dream. Most people don’t remember their dreams. Mine are clear, awful, and haunting most of the time. I find that writing them down helps me deal with it and try to get it out of my head. Demons and Devils pop up in my dreams a lot and not in a funny, cool, metal way. I think it was a manifestation of me fighting some bad decisions I was tempted to make and ones I have already made, except for the end of the song. The end came a year later as an epiphany when I adapted the poem to music. I remember jogging to it making up a melody to the last riff and thinking, “Oh shit, fuck that. I’m calling his bluff.” The ending was emotionally triumphant. My dreams are like I constantly have these demons fucking fight over my soul. But I won that one a year later. Weird that I’m explaining this to a stranger. Maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe you should buy me a whiskey first, and I’ll tell you the rest. I like Bulleit.

Jordan: Make mine a double.

Jamie: Three, please!






Ok, so musically this album sees Brume really hitting their stride. How did the writing process change for this record?

Susie: In 2014, we just met and started playing music together. I’m not sure much has changed in our process, except for more time spent together probably helps you build trust and learn how to collaborate easier together. I know I feel more comfortable to make armpit farts as an intro and chirp bird noises mid-song!

Jordan: The first EP was more of a rush job, since Susie was expecting and the fate of the band was unknown. We really wanted to get something out quickly. With Rooster we booked the studio time well in advance and got Billy Anderson to sign on fairy early. There was a good six months where we didn’t do anything but write and rehearse. We’ve also become quite close as a band, so we were more willing to take risks that maybe we wouldn’t have attempted on the first record.

Jamie: Process-wise, the only thing that had changed was a lot more focus on lyrics and vocals. Susie and I spent a lot of time at each other’s apartments between band rehearsals focusing in on melodies, intonations, and harmonies. Thanks to all husband and wives in Brume for putting up with us!


What did you want to avoid on this record? In other words, what did you not want this record to sound like, be perceived as, and so on?

Susie: Nothing, I don’t really think that way. I just do what I want to and try not to hold back. It isn’t great life advice but for music it works well for me. Plus, if Jamie or Jordan thinks my idea sucks, they have no problem telling me. That makes it easier to go for it, as far as I’m concerned.

Jordan: We never limit what we want to do. If we like it, we do it. We don’t try to avoid sounding like anything. We sound like who we are.

While the goal should never be “longer is better” for doom, necessarily, the songs on this record are noticeably longer and more fleshed out than those on Donkey. Did this come naturally as you wrote the compositions or were you trying to write a fuller, more complete opus?

Jordan: We joke that our songs aren’t finished until they’re over the six-minute mark, but we do like to stretch things out and slow things down. We’re not in a rush to get to the next song.

Jamie: I’m a big fan of Junior Kimborough, old Bob Dylan, and Yob. Monotony is kind of my jam. Some people find that boring, I find it hypnotic and calming. There is a balancing act to keeping people engaged, so to add more flavor to a song meant making them a lil’ longer than we did on Donkey. We wanted these songs to feel more epic and have more dynamics and take people on a journey, so twelve-minute songs just kind of happened.


In “Reckon,” McMullen’s vocals deliver this tribal chant in the middle of the song, followed by a fucking heavy riff. It’s a big moment and it’s segments like this that make Rooster stand out. What influences would you say pushed you guys to write songs like “Reckon”?

Susie: Jamie wrote that riff – it’s so good, right?! Love that shit. Lyrically, that song is about a big, ugly dude that works at NASA who looks like he should play in Crowbar that I crushed on for some time. It seemed natural to make this song a story about a badass who could match up to that riff. Tribal chants, animal sounds, three-to-four schizoid-personalities in one song, that is what speaks to me vocally and makes me feel wild and alive.

Jamie: The structure in that song came from my fear of it sounding too much like a blues thing. I think that’s where the schizoid personality comes in. There’s a lil’ bit of All Them Witches, Pallbearer, and a total High on Fire “10,000 Years” riff at the end that pretty much sums up what I would have been listening to that month.

This album experimented a lot more with dynamics than Donkey. “Tradewind,” which starts off with soft, somber guitar work, swells and fades throughout the song, ending on a strong crescendo. This really heightens the cathartic nature of the music. It’s purging, painful, and beautiful. Tell us more about how you guys “discovered” this element of your songwriting.

Susie: For the bass, I just try to beef up the guitars unless I can add something fun and dynamic or bring another riff that compliments Jordan or Jamie. Vocally, I like to show all sides of me. I am not strong and tough 24/7. Sometimes I’m fragile or scared or weak. Sometimes I’m pissed at the whole world and other times I want to lift the world up. I try to give all of those sides of me even if it isn’t that cool to show it. I notice when I do so then singing and playing music is therapeutic and self-nourishing. I don’t have to pretend to be something stronger than I am. It is a sustainable lifestyle being yourself. I highly recommend it.

Jordan: Metal bands have feelings, too.

Jamie: Last year’s Radiohead album, A Moon Shaped Pool, was something I obsessed over. That and All Them Witches (ever since I saw them at Day of the Shred in 2014). Whilst very different artists, both bands craft albums that are rich and dynamic. They create such contrast in style and mood. I love this juxtaposition. I respect that I never know what I’m going to get with both of these artists and I was so heavily inspired by that idea, I worked hard to incorporate it into Rooster. I’m excited to see how much more contrast we can create in the future.

I really enjoyed this record, still spinning it now. Thanks so much for visiting with the readers of Doomed & Stoned! - Doomed & Stoned

REVIEW: BRUME – ROOSTER by Carina Lawrence / Dark Art Conspiracy



California doom trio Brume have unleashed their anticipated debut album ‘Rooster’ which was produced by Billy Anderson. They have been honing their craft since the release of their 2015 EP ‘Donkey’ and this debut shows how they have sonically evolved and progressed.

The majority of the songs featured on this debut are quite hefty in sound and size, with most of the tracks coming in at nearly ten minutes. The opener ‘Grit and Pearls’ is one of the longest featured, at just over ten minutes and has a dark foreboding presence throughout and Susie’s haunting and beautiful vocals fit the atmosphere and backing perfectly. This is a great introduction and scene setter for the band and album which lulls you into a transcendent state of escapism.

Next song ‘Harold’ has a different feel to it, with a slightly more positive sound to it but with an ever present eeriness before the crushing instruments take hold.

‘Welter’ is very short compared to the other tracks. It is a sombre stripped back acoustic number with vulnerable vocals and soft guitars and helps add more diversity.

Closing song ‘Tradewind’ is the longest track at nearly twelve minutes long. It starts out mellow with beautiful delicate vocals before the massive chugging guitars come in, accompanied by soaring powerful vocals which you come to expect. It also further into the track features some great resonant and varied guitar work. The mood towards the end is perfect for a reflective closing that takes you through the motions.

This is a very sonic and atmospheric album which is well crafted, with its creeping slow doom crushing you from start to finish. Doom metal isn’t for everyone but this is more accessible than most offerings within this genre, making this a must hear.



Rooster is available on CD, cassette and digitally since April 20th from Brume drummer Jordan Perkins-Lewis’s fledgling label, Doom Stew Records. The 2xLP will be available in a variety of limited edition variants via DHU in July.



SCORE: 4/5 - Dark Arts Conspiracy

REVIEW
BRUME Rooster
Album · 2017 · Doom Metal
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners 4/5 · 2017-07-29
adg211288
Formed in 2014 after English guitarist Jamie McCathie relocated to the US, leaving his previous band, the sludge metal act Gurt behind, he met vocalist/bassist Susie McMullan and the two soon began making music, joined by drummer Jordan Perkins-Lewis. The band's only prior release is the EP Donkey (2015), making Rooster (2017) the trio's debut studio album.

There's a certain familiarity to Brume's music as soon as the opening track Grit and Pearls kicks into gear which is likely due to the prominence of other female fronted doom metal groups such as Avatarium, Jex Thoth and Blood Ceremony in recent years, but Brume distance themselves from these bands somewhat by lacking any overt psychedelic element. Instead they rely on down to earth, non-flashy doom metal riffs from Jamie McCathie's guitar and Susie McMullan's subtly brilliant and haunting vocal style. Their riffs are slow and pondering, slightly fuzzy and definitely designed to be crushing. The production doesn't make the album sound as massively heavy as some doom metal can be, but it works out just right for McMullan's soft and melodic voice, with Rooster ultimately coming across as a subdued and sombre album.

Rooster has a charm that proves to be infectious though. With the exception of the non-metal Welter the band write fairly long tracks but there's never an issue where a composition outstays its welcome. In fact Brume certainly display a knack for the longer track. Welter, not even reaching three minutes, is an interesting change a pace though. For me its Grit and Pearls, Reckon, and the closing Tradewind that stand out the most, but the fifty minute release is satisfying from start to finish. While I can't say that the album does too much to stand out within the doom metal genre as a whole, if you enjoy the style with a female voice then Rooster is a very nice release to add to your collection. - Metal Music Archives

Brume
Rooster
by Ofer Mashiach at 18 August 2017, 5:47 PM

I became familiar with San Francisco's, BRUME, about two years ago when I came across their debut EP, "Donkey", on Bandcamp. I developed a so-called fetish for female-fronted Doom Metal, and it so happened that they rose to the occasion and I was glad to recognize them as a rising force in that scene. There's something about such bands with their sweet melancholic female vocals with heavy riffs in the background that seems to work well, and BRUME definitely delivers.

Early 2017 saw the announcement of the debut full-length of BRUME titled, "Rooster", which was officially released in April. The album features six fresh and well-orchestrated tracks and spans 51 satisfying minutes of down-tuned goodies. I would describe their sound as a less fuzzy, but well-controlled version of their hometown legends, ACID KING. The atmosphere is tense and thick; Susie's immaculate vocal performance is very emotional. I also think that the beautiful artwork reflects what's under the cover.

For the most part, the music is sluggish with rather droning riffs that feel like an avalanche of anvils. There's nearly no guitars solos, but those that are there are somewhat bluesy and gloomy. There is considerable interplay between the loud and gentle parts. "Grit and Pearls" opens this album with a quiet lead before the other instruments joins in unison to form an earth-shaking riff. The lyrics deal with herd behavior of selecting our own hangmen, the trust we put in tyrants that feed their egos to bolster their power and fortune. The loathing in Susie's voice is delicate, but definitely there.

BRUME is a good example that less is much more, and that there's nothing that technicality can do that couldn't be achieved with good songwriting, which is exactly the case here. This alone makes this slow and entrancing music sound so right without desperate attempts at technicality to invoke interest (a lousy trend that is rampant today more than ever). The order of the tracks is very balanced and they dovetail each other naturally. The enchanting melodies of "Harold" and the mournful, echoing vocals make for a wonderfully lugubrious piece that disrupts the proper function of your synapses throughout. (Who needs chemical enhancement when you have this?)

"Call the Serpent's Bluff" is my favorite track of the album. Even though it's sluggish like the others, it has a certain groove with psychedelic tinges and a dramatic buildup that goes through several varying sections, showing all the strengths of the band. "Welter" is a short acoustic and touching interlude that is welcome for catching your breath before the epic final that is "Tradewind," which is the longest track, but nevertheless, engaging and passing in a breeze. It remains dramatic from start to finish despite dragging in a snail's pace, but never tiresome. (Did I mention the good songwriting?) I've got the feeling that the entire album could be acoustic and still achieve the desired appeal, and even retain the density and heaviness while unplugged.

This album is a must for fans for fans of the genre. It has everything you could wish for in Doom Metal and is an excellent introduction to the genre for newcomers. Buy it, you won't regret.

Songwriting: 10
Originality: 8
Memorability: 8
Production: 9 - Metal-Temple

September 2017
Released: 2017, Doom Stew Records
Rating: 5.0/5
Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team

The US Doom scene just seems to rumble on and on, churning out one quality band after another. Brume certainly hit the mark with their crunching, dark hearted seismic sonic attack. Their press release describes the release as a riff ritual, an astonishingly apropos description of these proceedings.



The album opens with "Grit And Pearls", a forboding, bassy cavalcade - heavier than a Wookiee's buffet. Augmented by Susan McMullan's anguished wail, this is slow, gloopy and more than a little grimy. True Doom as it should be. Next up is the curiously titled "Harold". Its delicate yet menacing intro soon gives way to a crushing riff assault, with the vocals the honey in an enticing but deadly trap. "Reckon" is possessed of a Grand Canyon sized groove, and contains masterful psychedelic sections which add variety and pathos. The glorious "Call The Serpent's Bluff" is up next, with its merciless and panful rifferama. A Creeping barrage of soul poisoning damnation.



The lilting acoustic piece "Welter" offers an inspired change of direction, laden with longing vocals and a yearning spirit. Proceedings are concluded with "Tradewind"; its bad trip intro followed by bone busting sonic torture, all nightmarish tropes and a heaviness that threatens to have a Scanners-esque effect on the skull. BOOM!



"Rooster" is punishing and weighty, with a constant feel of menace. Unsettling in the way that all good Doom should be. It never once loses focus. The golden, soulful voice of Susan McMullan is the glue that holds everything together. What an astonishing voice! The glorious riffing, and often atmospheric lead guitar blend with her vocals to make one of the best albums of 2017. Doom fans - your collection is incomplete without this.



Review by Owen Thompson - Metal Rules