Brutus’s “War” is the Most Impressive Metal Video You’ll See This Week

Belgian trio Brutus dropped their new single and video, for the track “War,” just as I was stepping onto a plane a couple of weeks ago, so please forgive my late pass on this one. Rest assured, it’s been rattling around my brain ever since, and you’ll soon understand why.

“War” is one of the most impressive clips I’ve seen in some time. The composition of the video is the perfect introduction to the band, which is fronted by drummer/vocalist Stefanie Mannearts. Her voice is impressive enough with just the backdrop of a lightly arpeggiated guitar line, but two minutes in the camera angle shifts to reveal that she’s sitting behind a drum kit… then BOOM, the song explodes, and we learn what Mannearts is truly capable of. Her performance as both a drummer and vocalist here is astounding, dynamic and expressive on both instruments, both alone and — most impressive of all — together. What’s more, this video was shot live! The audio you hear was played on the shoot, relayed in this video in its original form. Wow.

Watch “War” below. Brutus’s new album Nest comes out March 29th via Sargent House; pre-order here. Give me more of this all day long, please.