Year: 2020
Total Time: 39:33
Label: WormHoleDeath

     SHATTER BRAIN come from Adelaide, Australia. They were formed in 2017 and became well known with 2018’s split EP release along with BLUNT SHOVEL, in which they covered MASTODON’s anthem “Blood And Thunder”. This year, they are releasing their debut CD “Pitchfork Justice”, a mix of Sludge, Thrash, Hardcore and Crossover genres.

     “Pitchfork Justice” contains 9 songs (one of them is instrumental), presenting us something between the aggression of DRI and the mud of CROWBAR with a great variation of vocals as is used to be in these genres. Clean vocals, old school gang chorus, modern core screams with a little bit of growls join together by Tom Santamaria’s larynx but with a restricted range. The guitar work is fine and quite interesting and dynamic and the sound production is as muddy as it should be. The cover artwork presupposed me with interest as I expected to listen something similar to MUNICIPAL WASTE but the reality was something different. There are some interesting ideas all over the CD but the lengthy songs and their duration make the listener feel tired, weary and disoriented.

     SHATTER BRAIN gave their effort to release a debut with good, interesting ideas filled with excitement. They are bound as a band, toured with CAVALERRA CONSPIRACY, INTEGRITY and CARCASS among others but they don’t seem to focus on their target, showing amateurish in many cases. The Crossover genre demands shorty and tight songs, but here the duration is long, the structure is quite complex and the vocals are “too much” for me. Experimentation and concurrence of the genres is hiding traps and SHATTER BRAIN looks like they fell into it. They seem to have the ability to escape from the trap as long as they stay on one aspect that suits better and decide what kind of music they want to play.  

Rating: 5.5/10
Editor: Dimos Karadimos
Related Link: SHATTER BRAIN – Official Page