Brume – Rabbits (Review)

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

I loved 2017’s Rooster, so much that I placed it on my best of list of that year. We now have its successor, which features 43 minutes of new music spread out over 5 tracks.

Brume mix crushing doom with beautiful, haunting vocals and dark melodies. Rich in both substance and atmosphere, these new songs are exemplars of how to concurrently keep your sound recognisably familiar, while also moving it forward. Taking all of the considerable strengths of Rooster as a base, Rabbits finds the band wading into even more creative and fertile waters than previously.

The band’s balance of heavy distortion and lighter softness never sounds contrived, and their songwriting skill seems to have ascended to new heights. Each track here merges catchy accessibility with the sort of depth and longevity that’s a rarity in any genre. Every song sounds like a world in miniature, with so much to explore and an inspiring attention to detail and nuance amidst the thunderous riffs. It’s the love of emotional music that ultimately keeps you returning, however, as Rabbits drips with the stuff.

The level of care that’s clearly gone into these songs is ridiculous. Making use of multiple different musical enhancements and ideas, Brume have crafted a magnificent album of weight and texture. Oh, and then there’s the vocals. The delicate clean slinging is luxurious and gorgeous, and the singer’s voice is filled with ubiquitous emotion throughout; never once is she simply going through the motions. Of course, the same can be said of the music too; everything here is quite exceptionally realised and skilfully delivered.

This is, quite frankly, fantastic. There, I said it. Utterly essential.