Formed by three veterans of the Australian underground, Bruxist play that kind of furious concoction of d-Beat and death metal with a bit of a blackened edge that no-one seems to have thought of a particularly catchy name for yet.
Basically, if you like bands like Nails and Trap Them and Disfear and Fuming Mouth, you’re gonna have a great time with their self-titled debut full-length - a record which yowls and snarls and rages its way through eight tracks in a tight 29 minutes.
All three of the band took some time to chat to me about how Bruxist (both the band and the album) came together, with a little look to the future and the Aussie scene more broadly at the end.
You guys have all been playing in the Australian underground for a little while. How did Bruxist come together and what was the specific vision for this band?
(Terry, guitar/vocals): Bruxist came together after another long-running band in a similar ballpark of styles I helmed ended in 2016. Dan and I had previously connected in our doom/death group Subterranean Disposition and he asked me if I was planning on exploring the metal/hardcore punk crossover any further and I said I had a whole stack of songs and did indeed want to continue working in that field.
We set about going through my material in small rehearsal increments and eventually in 2020 invited Dav to come in and make it a power trio with us!
(Dav, bass/backing vocals): Very happy with the invite, I was told my playing and attitude was admired by the guys, so I was very much left to my own devices as far as coming up with basslines and parts. It all came together very smoothly - in fact our very first rehearsal was so tight we were considering releasing the recording of it!”
(Dan, drums/backing vocals): We are an interstate lineup and Covid (with associated border closures) made it difficult to progress for a few years there. The fact that we're here now is a testament to having a clear vision, keeping our eye on the ball, and perseverance, perseverance, perseverance.
Bruxist (the album) has a really cool raw and dirty sound - were there any influences on the mix/production in particular?
(Terry): Thank you! The mission we had with this debut album was to record and perform the music in as organic and authentic a way as possible, akin to a live performance. We recorded guitar, bass and drums live in the room together in one take and then later overdubbed second guitar, backing and lead vocals. Playing together without a click track really can accentuate the push and pull in tempo and dynamics - like a band performing in front of you!
Mix-wise we let Jason Fuller from Goatsound Studios do his magic with a super distorted yet all instruments still legible/audible mix that we love. Last but not least Dav really shone on the master and its nod to the albums from old school times!
(Dav): We definitely managed to keep an edgy sense of danger in the recording - pushing things almost a bit too hard is definitely an angle we're going for - whether that be tempo, looseness, instrument tones. We wanted it to sound like a band playing in a room and Mr Fuller has definitely captured that. He absolutely gets the Stockholm-y guitar sound and "tractor bass" combination that glues a real drum performance together and really drives. Adding a couple of little soundscapey snippets at the mastering stage is also a tip of the hat to some of our favourite older albums.
(Dan): I think Dav did a particularly good job giving the tape a bit more saturation in the mastering stage. The digital version of the album sounds great but everything feels like it's being hit a fair bit harder on the tape. I'd love to hear it on vinyl someday soon.
What is your writing process like? Do you feel like each of you gets to bring your previous experiences into it?
(Terry): For this first album, all eight tracks I composed and brought to the guys, in jams we would tweak passages or move notes in riffs, so in that regard everyone was involved in how the songs came out.
I feel personally whenever I enter a new music conversation I’m always bringing my previous experiences with me either consciously or unconsciously and I believe everyone you play with does so also, and that’s where the magic happens in new forms!
Going forward I think Dan and Dav will bring music to the Bruxist table, and the future music we make will be all the more dynamic and rich for it!
What are the main themes of the album?
(Terry): Lyrically there’s a mix of social commentary on the human condition through different lenses mixed in with some introspective qualities, ranging from the entertainment industry/cult of personality (“Inversion”), the internet and its mirror on culture shifting and the dark side of human behaviour (“Piss and Vinegar”), capitalism/consumerism and its effects (“Divide and Conquer”), and addiction in its many forms (“Hydra”).
How have your first few shows gone?
(Terry): The first two live shows in Adelaide and Melbourne respectively, have been great experiences in terms of how we felt we performed and the response from those in attendance. Definitely looking forward to honing our stagecraft further and playing with some great bands along the way.
(Dan): It's always a bit tricky with a new band working out exactly how to present the music live but given the runtime and arc of the album, we have a ready-made set list which is standing us in good stead for the first few shows.
Everyone in the band is a seasoned live performer, so it's just a matter of getting the flow right for the room. That's a dialogue with the audience - a band as visceral as Bruxist is never going to phone it in or play the music by numbers, there's literally no point doing it unless the audience feels like they are enmeshed in the experience.
(Dav): They've been a lot of fun and we're looking forward to taking Bruxist wherever we can!
Do you have any specific ambitions/intentions going forward?
(Terry): Personally I’m looking forward to recording a second album and expanding upon what the three of us can present in the sound and styles of Bruxist. All three of us have played internationally in other groups, so a definite ambition I have with this is to get to the point where we can travel overseas to perform.
(Dan): I organise a pretty sizeable festival in Canberra called Essence and it'll be nice to put Bruxist on stage in front of my hometown audience plus a bunch of peers I respect and admire in October 2025.
(Dav): Releasing more music and playing with all sorts of bands. Bruxist has so many flavours that I think we'd slot in fairly well on any heavier sort of lineup, be it punk, metal, hardcore, doom. We love it all!
What other bands from Australia should people check out right now?
(Terry): Check out Black Jesus, Convulsing, Altars, Resistance, Faceless Burial, YLVA and 100 Years War!
(Dan): I'm really enjoying our noise and experimental scene, so my tips would be Sulphur Garden, Death Appeal, Black Aleph, Marlene Claudine Radice, Blood of a Pomegranate, Bract…
(Dav): We're all very open to listening to anything and everything. I would add Namazu, NON, Bacchus Harsh, Zoj, Hashashin and Gutless to the lists above.
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Bruxist is available now via Gutter Prince Cabal.
Bruxist on social media: Facebook
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