Brutal Truth was an American

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

band from New York City, formed by ex-

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, ...

, and

Stormtroopers of Death Stormtroopers of Death (abbreviated to S.O.D.) was an American crossover thrash band formed in New York City in 1985. They are credited as being amongst the first groups to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal into a style often referred to as c ...

bass guitarist

Dan Lilker Daniel Adam Lilker (born October 18, 1964) is an American musician best known as a bass player, but also guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He has played bass in numerous heavy metal bands, including Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, S.O.D. and Holy ...

in 1990. The group disbanded in 1999, but reformed in 2006 and continued to release music until 2014.

History

Brutal Truth was formed in 1990 in New York City. The band was originally signed to

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by r ...

, on which they released two albums, '' Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses'' and '' Need to Control'', as well as an EP entitled '' Perpetual Conversion'', and 7-inch singles for the songs "Ill Neglect" and "Godplayer". During this time, music videos were made for the songs "Ill Neglect", "Collateral Damage" and "Godplayer". Brutal Truth were frustrated with Earache Records and switched to

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The ...

, known for its roster of

acts, with whom they stayed until the band's demise. Brutal Truth toured the US with

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: * Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being, also c ...

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mi ...

and

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

on the Campaign for Musical Destruction tour in 1992. With Relapse, they released the mini album '' Kill Trend Suicide'', a full-length release entitled '' Sounds of the Animal Kingdom'' and a double CD

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

called ''Goodbye Cruel World''. The band has also released many split 7-inch singles on smaller labels, with most of these being out of print and difficult to find. The songs from these 7-inch singles were collected on the second disc of ''Goodbye Cruel World''. The band disbanded around 1999 due to internal financial and management conflicts. In 2001, the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'' awarded Brutal Truth the record for "shortest music video" for their video "Collateral Damage", which is 2.18 seconds long and consists of 48 still images in rapid succession followed by a clip of an explosion. BrutalTruth by Christian Misje

Drummer Richard Hoak also provides vocals and drums for a project titled Total Fucking Destruction. Kevin Sharp released an album with Venomous Concept in 2004, a

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band featuring members from the Melvins and

. He was also a member of Australian grind band Damaged for a little over a year in 1999. He is also currently involved with the Atlanta-based hardcore-metal, grindcore band, Primate, with guitarist

Bill Kelliher William Breen Kelliher (born March 23, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist of Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mastodon (band), Mastodon, and being the only band member who doesn't share the lead vocal duty (exc ...

from

Mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...

. Dan Lilker now plays for a host of bands and is currently bassist for the re-united

. Brutal Truth re-formed in 2006 with three-quarters of the final lineup returning (Lilker, Hoak and Sharp); Erik Burke (of

Lethargy Lethargy is a state of tiredness, sleepiness, weariness, fatigue, sluggishness, or lack of energy. It can be accompanied by depression, decreased motivation, or apathy. Lethargy can be a normal response to inadequate sleep, overexertion, overw ...

) replaced Brent McCarty on guitar. On July 8, 2008, four new Brutal Truth tracks were released on the ''This Comp Kills Fascists'' compilation. This is the first new material from the band in almost ten years. On January 21, 2009, it was announced that Brutal Truth had finished recording a new album, entitled '' Evolution Through Revolution''. It was released on April 14 in North America, April 17 in Germany and on April 20 worldwide. The band have also made the entire album available via streaming from their website. A video for "Sugardaddy/Branded" was released on July 17, 2009. On September 27, 2011, Brutal Truth released '' End Time'' on Relapse. In 2012, the band participated in the Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival, performing material composed by Robert Piotrowicz. In October 2012, Dan O'Hare took over guitar duties. Brutal Truth will release a split with Bastard Noise on November 11, 2013. On January 10, 2014, Lilker announced that he would be retiring from being a full-time recording and touring musician on October 18, 2014, which was his 50th birthday. As a result, Brutal Truth disbanded on this day.

Band members

– bass guitar, backing vocals , lead vocals *Brent "Gurn" McCarty – guitars *Scott Lewis – drums *Kevin Sharp – lead vocals *Richard Hoak – drums *Jody Roberts – guitars *Erik Burke – guitars *Dan O'Hare – guitars

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses'' (1992, Earache Records) *'' Need to Control'' (1994, Earache Records) *'' Kill Trend Suicide'' (1996, Relapse Records) *'' Sounds of the Animal Kingdom'' (1997, Relapse Records) *'' Evolution Through Revolution'' (2009, Relapse Records) *'' End Time'' (2011, Relapse Records)

Extended plays

*''The Birth of Ignorance'' demo (1990) *''Ill Neglect'' (1992, Earache Records) *''Perpetual Conversion'' (1993, Earache Records) *''Godplayer'' (1994, Earache Records) *''Machine Parts +4'' (1996, Relapse Records) *''Split 7-inches'' 7-inch release with the songs from the split with Converge on one side and the songs from the split with Violent Society on the other side (2008, Relapse Records)

DVDs

*''For the Ugly and Unwanted – This Is Grindcore'' (2009, Season of Mist)

Splits

*split with Spazz (1996, Bovine Records) *split with Rupture (1997, Relapse Records) *split with

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) In mathematics, a limit is the value that a function (or sequence) app ...

(1997, Hydra Head Records) *split with

Melvins Melvins (sometimes the Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...

(1997, Reptile Records) *split with Violent Society (1997, Relapse Records) *split with Narcosis/Total Fucking Destruction (2007, Calculated Risk Records) *First United Meth Church split with Blood Duster (2009, Zenith Records) *''The Axiom of Post Inhumanity'' split with Bastard Noise (2013, Relapse Records)

Other releases

*''Goodbye Cruel World'' (compilation of live material and rarities) (1999, Relapse Records) *''For Drug Crazed Grindfreaks Only! Live at Noctum Studios + 1'' (2008, Relapse Records) *'' This Comp Kills Fascists Vol. 1'' (2008, Relapse Records)

References

External links

Brutal Truth on Relapse Records

interview
*

Brutal Truth Brutal Truth was an American grindcore band from New York City, formed by ex-Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Stormtroopers of Death bass guitarist Dan Lilker in 1990. The group disbanded in 1999, but reformed in 2006 and continued to release mu ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{Authority control American deathgrind musical groups American grindcore musical groups American political music groups Death metal musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups from New York City Relapse Records artists Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Musical quartets from New York (state) Earache Records artists