Brutal Fight Our Merciful Father (2005) Strike First

Emotion that tells a story...anger that goes somewhere... This is what can be found on Brutal Fight’s Our Merciful Father. The CD starts with the title track: “Our Merciful Father,” which encapsulates the disenchantment of the band, and perhaps, their fans. This album is like a story, beginning with a question (“What is happening, merciful father? Should I turn from you?”) and builds slowly and steadily to a conclusion. “A Martyr’s Cry” and “Ultimate Resistance Is Complete Submission” follows, building the feeling of being at once confused with the world at times, yet steadfast in faith. Lyrics like “This battle that’s inside me makes me sick with guilt. This God that is love renews me with hope” encapsulates this.

As the album progresses, tracks like “Revolutions” set the stage for the finale. A brutal fight song to rally the troops, this track continues momentum, leading to a realization in the final lines of “This Transparency:” “Now I know it’s worth the sacrifice in my life. Now I have something real…”

I don’t want to wax poetic on the whole idea of albums versus singles, but since I didn’t come of age during the digital revolution, I do mourn the heyday of the album, and listening to something from beginning to end – something that told a story, where songs were arranged “just so.” Our Merciful Father is a return to the album. It is something that should be listened to from start to finish – not just by picking up a few MP3 tracks. That’s because this band has a message, and the album is their platform…and as that, it’s executed perfectly.

Brutal Fight is a hardcore band with a positive message buried in what may at first be interpreted as an “angry” sound. And happily, they have something worthwhile to say.

(Erin Jackson)