Brii - Corpos Transparentes
03 Jan 2023 - Brayden
Ambient Black Metal, Blackened Canterbury Prog Metal | Release date: 13 May 2022 | Favorite song: which one, huh?
Fans of Brii I tell you this: this is not the same band you knew. For a while now they’ve trespassed into the world of Ambient and Trance with their loud Black Metal, a feat that should not be undermined as their fusion is balanced, this was Brii on two of their three releases. Their metamorphosis is complete now, they have shed their cocoon and now fly into the world of progressive rock more exuberant than ever, abandoning black metal almost entirely; the journey to this point implies that this was their goal from the beginning. Corpos Transparentes is a 36-minute-tour-de-force commemorating the band that once was but a tribute to becoming the current band.
Brii is actually a one man band, and trying to get an idea of Caio Lemos (the man behind Brii): he has always been interested in the more meditative side of metal, having dabbled in the likes of Funeral Doom and Atmospheric Black Metal in one of his other projects; he also is keen on Electronica proven by another project comprised of pure synthpop. Out of his numerous aliases Brii surpasses any of the others in terms of ingenuity due to the aforementioned balance. With Brii, the songs typically were long, varied meditations that broke into Black Metal violence ever so often. Now what remains of their Black Metal is but a semblance, the drums in the beginning are reminiscent of Black Metal but without further context it is difficult to prove the authenticity of the metal tag for his newest release. Black Metal (often) represents anger or fury, and musically it can literally translate these ideas in the form of speed and violent thrashing. Once this havoc has been subtracted what is Brii? Now it is a passive presence when they were once a force, and this is a welcome change.
During Brii’s metamorphosis there is something of interest to note: the tracklist has continuously shortened whereas the songs have gotten longer, and this is now different for his newest album with only one track and nearly forty minutes. The track begins more ferociously than in any of his other works, the drums crash at breakneck speeds while Acid-like guitars accentuate them. Not long after there is some relief from the harsh vocals and what remains of his Black Metal tendency mixed with intense Jazz-like instrumentation with clean singing and piano melodies that carry on for a bit. Synthpop replaces all movements for a bit with ominous synth lines and electronic drumming that morphs once more into a strange arrangement of bells to be interrupted by more clean singing. As the buildup quickens, the synthesizer becomes more vocal amidst the brilliant segways between Acid-Rock, Jazz, and Psychedelia, functioning as the bridge between them all. Choir intonations support the shift from one section of the song to the next, which is about halfway into the track. A massive crescendo occurs twenty minutes into the suite, replete with guitar, harpsichord, piano, choir vocals, harsh Black Metal vocals, and bells; the foundation of the other experiments found within the massive catalog of sounds this track contains. Eventually, the track begins to relax with Breakcore-esque drums and ambience, leading into piano intermittent Jazz chaos that concludes the track.
Even abandoning a large part of what originally comprised Brii’s impact, Lemos managed to carve out another niche. For the spirit of Black Metal is still there, just the same as the old ethos is there. What is different is the growth of the project as a whole proven by the added patience and delicacy in which the music now conveys. Corpos Transparentes is a cerebral effort, one that is sure to remind people of the Canterbury scene all those decades ago, albeit with more ferocious intensity.