Playing God

The Making of Brutal Truth's Need to Control

[No. 18]

Brutal Truth

Need to Control

Genre-changing avant-grind firebrand

released: 1994

label: Earache Records

W hen New York grinders Brutal Truth released their debut, Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses, metal bassist extraordinaire Danny Lilker (Anthrax, S.O.D., Exit-13) had just severed his ties with Nuclear Assault. Teaming with metal journalist Kevin Sharp, drummer Scott Lewis, and former Nuclear Assault guitar tech Brent “Gurn” McCarty (who was nicknamed after a Steve Martin character on Saturday Night Live), Brutal Truth became priority number one. After Lewis parted ways with the band, they drafted Ninefinger skinbeater Rich Hoak and recorded their finest effort—Need to Control. Between didgeridoo drones and static-filled interludes, their love of weed, blast beats and destruction commanded blasterpieces like “Godplayer,” “Brain Trust” and “Bite the Hand.” It was a different sound for the band—slower songs, jazzier breakdowns, more space—but in many ways, it forced grindcore into its adolescence. When the group disbanded in 1998, they left a legacy of grind few have matched. And with a cover of Eyehategod’s “Sister Fucker Parts 1 and 2” coming out soon on a tribute comp, as well as an impending reunion show (sans Gurn) in Chicago, the Truth’s future looks best when taking a puff and looking back at the past.

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