Singapore’s veteran Death/Thrashers lose more bite than they gain
Truth Be Known have been around Singapore’s metal underground since 2005, so this is hardly some fresh-faced band trying to figure out where it belongs. They came out of the local Death Metal circuit, built a reputation through years of gigs and eventually put out ‘Just Another Lamb’ in 2008 and ‘By Any Means Necessary’ in 2014. Their early identity was fairly easy to understand: Death Metal, grind, Thrash and plenty of attitude, delivered with the sort of pissed-off energy that earned them the old ‘angriest band in Singapore’ tag.
Then things changed.
‘All Are Equal in the Pit’, released in 2024, is the latest full-length and contains nine tracks ranging from the one-minute ‘Signal Fault’ to songs such as ‘Motor in Your Head’, ‘Equal in the Pit’, ‘Unhinged Stupidity’ and ‘Religious Relapse’.
The problem is that the record sounds less like a band sharpening its weapons and more like a bunch of seasoned musicians having a laugh and assuming the songs will take care of themselves.
There is nothing wrong with humour in Extreme Metal. In fact, Truth Be Known have always had that side of their personality. The trouble starts when the jokes become more memorable than the riffs. Titles such as ‘Confuckfirm’, ‘Political Jerk Off’ and ‘Unhinged Stupidity’ tell you exactly where the record’s priorities lie.
And musically, there are moments where the old Truth Be Known aggression is still visible. ‘Motor in Your Head’ has enough movement to remind you that these guys know how to write a proper metal tune, while the faster material still carries traces of their Death/Grind background. The band are not suddenly incompetent. That would actually make this easier to dismiss.
The bigger issue is that the material rarely feels dangerous.
The early Truth Be Known had a certain roughness and urgency. There was a sense that the songs were written because the band had something to get out of their system. On ‘All Are Equal in the Pit’, too much of that urgency has been replaced by a knowing grin. The Death Metal, grind and punk ingredients are still sitting on the table, but the chemistry isn’t always there.
This is especially noticeable when you put the record beside ‘Just Another Lamb’. That album had a much clearer personality. It wasn’t perfect, but it sounded like a band establishing itself. ‘By Any Means Necessary’ pushed the attitude further and showed that Truth Be Known could move between metal and punk-derived aggression without completely losing their identity.
The new record sometimes feels like the opposite. It knows exactly what Truth Be Known are supposed to sound like, but it doesn’t always sound like they have anything new to prove.
That is a dangerous position for a veteran underground band.
There is also a strange contradiction running through the album. Truth Be Known have never been a band that needed to behave themselves. Their history includes explicit lyrics, social commentary, religious criticism, political material and the deliberately vulgar humour that has always been part of their personality.
But being offensive and being effective are two different things.
A profanity isn’t automatically a punchline, and a provocative song title isn’t automatically a strong song. When the musical substance isn’t keeping pace, the attitude starts looking like camouflage.
That is where ‘All Are Equal in the Pit’ falls short.
There are still enough decent riffs, bursts of speed and ugly vocals to keep the old-school crowd interested, and anyone who has followed Truth Be Known for years will recognise the fingerprints immediately. Live, this material probably makes much more sense. Their reputation as an energetic live act goes back almost to the beginning, and even contemporary coverage of their shows has highlighted how tightly and enthusiastically they perform.
On record, however, the personality doesn’t translate quite as well.
The frustrating part is that Truth Be Known clearly still have the musicianship and experience. This isn’t a young band making its first demo and getting away with rough edges because enthusiasm makes up for everything. These are veterans. That means the bar has to be higher.
‘All Are Equal in the Pit’ isn’t a disaster, but it is a disappointing record when measured against what Truth Be Known have already accomplished.
There are songs here. There is aggression here. There is attitude here.
What is missing is that old sense of necessity.
Truth Be Known once sounded like they were pissed off and needed everyone to know about it. Here, they sometimes sound like they’re simply reminding everyone that they used to be.
For a band approaching twenty years in the underground, that isn’t quite enough.
A competent but uneven veteran release with flashes of the old Truth Be Known bite. The humour and punk/grind attitude remain intact, but the songwriting doesn’t consistently hit with the same force as the band’s earlier work. Worth hearing for longtime followers, but ‘Just Another Lamb’ and ‘By Any Means Necessary’ remain the more convincing statements of what Truth Be Known could do when the attitude and the music were pulling in the same direction.
