The Brent Sea - Disco Infernal

The Brent Sea

Disco Infernal
​self-released; 2021

By Dan Weston
​

The Brent Sea is the home recording project of Brent C Willis from The False Dmitrys, an obscure underground rock band from Wellington, New Zealand that's been active for about twenty years. Willis recently released Disco Infernal which is a six-song album with experimental yet dance worthy groove based songs.

The album starts with “Ghost Car” and you are first introduced to protruding synth bass parts and warping white noise. It doesn't take too long for the song to find the main groove that it rides for the majority of the song. Drums fade in and everything begins to lock in. The warping white noise becomes more intense and sounds like a huge phaser effect in action. There’s a good amount happening with the vocals but they are intermittent. The vocals have delay effects at points and are treated more like an element than a lead. It’s an engaging high energy song that is also fairly haunting. 

“Riki’s Kitchen” felt sinister and dark. There are elements of post-punk and industrial almost somewhere between NIN and Joy Division. The vocals were interesting and the music felt dark. Piano notes sprinkle on the main groove almost as if he was stabbing at the instrument.

“Anal War” stretches more limits. This song is a bit terrifying. I’m not sure I want to know what Anal War is about. The song revolves around a consistent bass drum beat and lots of fanatic and anxiety inducing noises. Ghostly voices surface and the song should have a warning, especially if you might be under the influence of a drug.

The eight minute “Dead Man’s (disco) Suit” is next and at this point what thinking of absurdist type of art like David Lynch. This song felt like it could be in one of his movies. There are a good amount of disparate parts and dissonance. The song however is quite catchy. There are some consistent things here like the bass line as layers of feedback unfold around it. 

“Pants'' made me laugh. The lyrics are funny and brilliant. He gives some advice about remembering to wear your pants if you’re leaving your abode. It revolves around a danceable club beat. Last up is “Baby Inferno” and there’s lots of dissonance on this song. It's abrasive, experimental and metallic.

​Disco Infernal isn’t going to be for everyone. For fans of artists like Scott Walker, Daughters and other like-minded acts this should be right up your alley.

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