Sounds of the Animal Kingdom is the third studio album by American grindcore band Brutal Truth, released on September 23, 1997 by Relapse Records. It was the band's first release on Relapse Records, and last with guitarist Brent McCarthy. Recorded with Billy Anderson, it showcased a more experimental and varied style than the band's previous albums, incorporating elements of blues, psychedelic rock, noise, southern rock and free jazz. In 2006, the album was remastered and reissued with its preceding mini album Kill Trend Suicide (1996).
Background and recording
Brutal Truth wrote material for Sounds of the Animal Kingdom over the course of two years between its departure from Earache Records and its signing with Relapse Records, working at their rehearsal space three times a week. According to Hoak, the band would write and jam material at their rehearsal before handing "rough tracks" to vocalist Kevin Sharp, whom would fit or make up lyrics for the music. It was recorded at Baby Monster Studios and mixed at The Magic Shop, both in New York City; the opening sequence to "Blue World" was recorded at the band's Smoke, Grind, Sleep studio. Bill Yurkiewicz of Exit-13 contributed backing vocals to "Postulate Then Liberate". whilst "Blue World" is composed of samples from records drummer Rich Hoak found at flea markets, including an "environmental sounds record" with the ocean, Molly Hatchet, Telly Savalas and the Oliver! soundtrack. The album's closing track, "Prey", features a looping 2-second snippet from "Average People" that goes on for almost 22 minutes on the original CD. On the vinyl release of the album, the song is contained within a locked groove, making it play indefinitely. The album includes a cover of Sun Ra's "It's After the End of the World".<!-- Lyrics/title/art -->
Hoak said that the majority of the lyrics on Sounds of the Animal Kingdom revolve around "the animal within man being confronted with problems caused in society which are based on technology", and considered them to be "more politically conscious than outright political" compared to Brutal Truth's previous two albums. which Hoak denied, stating that the title had already been decided before he and Sharp realised the similarites between the album's themes and the book and discussed its concept. Brutal Truth embarked on a worldwide tour in support of the album, The band toured Japan, Europe and Australia in 1998, before disbanding in September of that year. Four Brutal Truth shows recorded during the Sounds of the Animal Kingdom tour were later released on the band's first and only DVD release, For the Ugly and Unwanted: This Is Grindcore (2009). Brutal Truth reunited in May 2006;
Critical reception
<!-- contemporary -->Mike DaRonco of AllMusic praised Sounds of the Animal Kingdom for being "more structured and compounded than Cannibal Corpse will ever be", and felt its apocalyptic-yet-realistic subject matter was atypical of death metal. whilst Metal Injection called it a culmination of "the epic scope of [Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses], the experimentation of [Need to Control], and the raw fury of [Kill Trend Suicide]". In a 2009 interview, Decibel founder and editor Albert Mudrian praised the album as "one of the most complete albums in grindcore history", despite it "[sounding] like it was recorded under a stack of wet mattresses". Mudrian included the album in the "Essential Discography" for 1997 in his book Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore (2004). Andrew Bonzanelli, also of Decibel, ranked the album at number 27 on the magazine's list of the "Top 30 Grindcore Albums of All Time". In 2013, The Village Voice ranked the album at number 11 on its list of the "Top 20 New York Hardcore and Metal Albums of All Time". In 2015, Greg Pratt of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles called the album both the best Relapse Records album of all time, and the "best grindcore album ever: sprawling and expansive, ugly and raw, progressive and regressive". In 2016, Metal Hammer listed it as one of its "10 essential grindcore albums", selecting it over Brutal Truth's other albums "due to the sheer diversity and deranged experimentalism of its contents". Justin M. Norton of About.com also ranked the album at number 4 on the site's list of ten "Essential Grindcore Albums".
Reflecting on the album's reception in 2015, Lilker stated:<blockquote>[W]hen that record came out, a lot of people just did not know what to make of it and it took a couple years to sink in. [...] a couple years later, all of a sudden, everybody got that record, and [Brutal Truth] was done. People were coming up to me and saying, 'Man, dude, that record is so nuts. Do you realize what an impact that record made?' I'm like, 'That's funny, because when that record was out, we were playing in front of 40 people.' [...] People still tell me to this day what a crazy record that is and how it changed their lives, so I’m proud of it, man.