A love-hate relationship has developed between myself and the idea of fusing culturally traditional features into internationally appreciated music: the combination can, at times be done incredibly well-- blurring the line between influences. Other times, and unfortunately in most cases, any form of blending is avoided, distancing the inspirations so far apart that it looks like a garish "diversity" stunt at leaving a dent in the blogosphere. In the event of Brutal Ethnology, luckily, Finland's SirCusCus avoid falling prey to the latter situation.
What SirCusCus embody on their debut EP is a fierce, incisive and eccentric brand of metal akin to the work of the Melvins and Mike Patton (Tomahawk and Mr. Bungle, particularly) which becomes evident in how opener "Global Womb" parallels "Honey Bucket." The band's idiosyncrasy is mainly fueled by polka and klezmer infusions within the songs, which are instilled seamlessly on moments like the demented "Satan's Mark" and at others-- "Parent Pet," namely-- juxtapose the intensity as if for comedic effect. SirCusCus, however, display their ability of blending throughout Brutal Ethnology; these interjections are deliberate and intentionally disconcert the listener, as ridiculous and inappropriate as they may sound.
As Brutal Ethnology hastens past its majority of brevity-driven ditties, SirCusCus begin to flirt with the notion of balladry with the only two tracks that surpass the three-minute barrier: "Urban Plastic Jungle" is more so a requiem than a ballad, establishing and dispelling a frantic outburst with menacing acoustic thrums and marching percussion that wallow in a cavernous ambiance. "Sun Dial" brings light to the situation with sustained chords and a bright vocal melody. I used the word "flirt" because SirCusCus reiterate their spastic tendencies with a 13-second closer which-- as implied by the length-- makes a nod to grindcore archetypes Napalm Death.
SirCusCus' capacity to collide polar opposite sides of musical concepts into a brew of entwining styles is pretty remarkable. Brutal Ethnology had plenty of faults and offenses waiting to strike upon its attributes: it could have had the length of an LP to spread the motifs thin, divorced its influences, sacrificed one sound for another, etc. These disadvantages never struck, and what was left of Brutal Ethnology was a vigorous, catchy, and inimitable 20 minutes.
[SirCusCus Myspace]
[Buy/download Brutal Ethnology from Bandcamp]
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