Three years in the making, British underground stalwarts Brutality Will Prevail are about to release their fifth studio album In Dark Places. Marking their return to Holy Roar Records, drummer Marc Richards tells Hammer it’s “a lot more like our older sound,” approaching it the same way as 2010’s Root Of All Evil and 2012’s Scatter The Ashes.
To celebrate BWP’s return to the fold, Metal Hammer is premiering the video for new track Penitence, which delivers delicious, sludge-ridden riffs by the truckload.
Never a band willing to pander to anyone for the sake of success, you cannot deny BWP’s integrity and passion for creating the metal that they want to hear. “Any band should just do whatever they want and not care about what anyone else says about it,” says Marc. “Either you’re with us or you’re not.”
To dig deeper into Brutality Will Prevail’s mantra and learn more about where they are in 2017, check out our full chat with Marc below.
What is the story behind the song Penitence?
“Penitence is essentially about someone who has burnt all of their bridges and hit rock bottom because of how they treated people in the past. They are now paying penance for their actions.”
What is the inspiration behind the video?
“We wanted the video to be a kind of prequel to Forever Restless and explain what happened prior to that, and I think it does that pretty well.”
You’re about to release your first album in three years, why the delay?
“We had a lot of member changes and the usual life situations. In all honesty we write when we feel like we want to write – sometimes that’s all the time and sometimes it’s hardly ever. We never want to put something out that we aren’t proud of but this record is everything we want it to be.”
You guys have been a band for 12 years. What’s the main thing you have learned in that time?
“To always do what you want to do. I think a lot of bands try to be purely one thing and in one scene but I see that as being ignorant to music as a whole. Write music you can stand by, say things you believe in, and play it to anyone who cares and shares that.”
How was the British metal scene evolved in your band’s lifetime?
“It’s hard to say. We seem to be one of those bands that can either attract wider audiences from multiple scenes or alienate them at the same time. Having not really done anything for 2-3 years, it’s hard to gauge these days, but we will find out soon enough when we tour this record.”
It feels like a lot of your peers have broken away from the underground into larger audiences, but you guys have remained largely in the same position. Do you see it the same way?
“If this is a weird way of saying we’ve never changed what we stand for and what we write about then yeah, I’d say I say it the same way. I know bands change sound and move up in the world but that’s not how we see our band, we do this to have fun and produce something we are proud about. We never compare the popularity of our band against others, as it’s not competition, but that’s not to say we don’t have certain goals – most have been met already.”
Do you think Brutality Will Prevail could ever be a mainstream prospect?
“Mainstream seems like such a negative term in this age. If a band has a million fans but always sticks to their guns and is true and honest then who are we to judge? We take it as it comes in BWP. Any opportunity we get we are grateful for, but will approach in the same manner, whether that’s 50 people or 50,000 people.”
In Dark Places is on sale March 24, via Holy Roar Records, and is available to pre-order now.